worksvsworumWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: works is a noun, worum is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“works” is a noun and “worum” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,219
“works” frequency rank
#6,880
“worum” frequency rank
29099
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature works worum
Definition Plural des Substantivs work um welche Sache/Angelegenheit

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set works and worum apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
works
5 ch
worum

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: works is [wɜːks] while worum is [voˈʁʊm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29099, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

works is recorded at frequency rank #22,219, classified as anoun, pronounced [wɜːks]. worum is at rank #6,880, tagged as anadv, pronounced [voˈʁʊm].

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 29099, this pair ranks #1,773,050 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of works vs worum

Shared letters: orw. Private to "works": ks. Private to "worum": mu.

"works" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "worum" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • worksowrks · wokrs · workks · workss · worrks · worsk · wroks · wworks
  • worumowrum · wormu · worrum · worumm · wourm · wroum · wworum

Frequency comparison

works#22,219
worum#6,880

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "works" and "worum" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "works" is a noun and "worum" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "works" or "worum"?
"worum" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,880 in our German list, against #22,219 for "works". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering works vs worum

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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