wordenvswordsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: worden is a unknown, words is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“worden” is an unknown and “words” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#285
“worden” frequency rank
#22,972
“words” frequency rank
23257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature worden words
Definition Partizip Perfekt von werden als Hilfsverb. In diesem Fall steckt die Hauptaussage in dem Verb, das mit Hilfe von worden ins Perfekt gesetzt wurde, - anders als bei dem zweiten Partizip Perfekt zu werden: geworden. Plural des Substantivs word

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set worden and words apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
worden
5 ch
words

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: worden is anunknown and wordsanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

worden is recorded at frequency rank #285, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈvɔʁdən]. words is at rank #22,972, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 23257, this pair ranks #1,863,657 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of worden vs words

Shared letters: dorw. Private to "worden": en. Private to "words": s.

"worden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "words" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wordenowrden · wodren · wordden · wordenn · wordne · woredn · worrden · wroden
  • wordsowrds · wodrs · wordds · wordss · worrds · worsd · wrods · wwords

Frequency comparison

worden#285
words#22,972

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "worden" and "words" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "worden" is an unknown and "words" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "worden" or "words"?
"worden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #285 in our German list, against #22,972 for "words". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering worden vs words

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an unknown, it's “worden”; for a noun, it's “words”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “worden” 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