wonvswozuWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: won is a verb, wozu is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“won” is a verb and “wozu” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,404
“won” frequency rank
#3,098
“wozu” frequency rank
28502
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature won wozu
Definition Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs win fragt nach einem Zweck, einem Ziel, einem Nutzen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set won and wozu apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
won
4 ch
wozu

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

won and wozu form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

won is recorded at frequency rank #25,404, classified as averb, pronounced […]. wozu is at rank #3,098, tagged as anadv, pronounced [voˈt͡suː].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 28502, this pair ranks #1,783,609 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

won#25,404
wozu#3,098

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "won" and "wozu" be used interchangeably?
No, "won" and "wozu" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering won vs wozu

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “won”; for an adverb, it's “wozu”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “won” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list