wordenvsWörternWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#285
“worden” frequency rank
#12,209
“Wörtern” frequency rank
12494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature worden Wörtern
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. Dativ Plural des Substantivs Wort

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
worden
7 ch
Wörtern

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: worden is [ˈvɔʁdən] while Wörtern is [ˈvœʁtɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

worden is recorded at frequency rank #285, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈvɔʁdən]. Wörtern is at rank #12,209, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvœʁtɐn].

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 12494, this pair ranks #1,963,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of worden vs Wörtern

Shared letters: enrw. Private to "worden": do. Private to "Wörtern": .

"worden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Wörtern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wordenowrden · wodren · wordden · wordenn · wordne · woredn · worrden · wroden

Frequency comparison

worden#285
Wörtern#12,209

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "worden" and "Wörtern" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "worden" is an unknown and "Wörtern" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "worden" or "Wörtern"?
"worden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #285 in our German list, against #12,209 for "Wörtern". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering worden vs Wörtern

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 “Wörtern”.
  • 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