Which to use
“Worte” is a noun and “worum” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,002
- “Worte” frequency rank
- #6,880
- “worum” frequency rank
- 7882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Worte | worum |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Wort | um welche Sache/Angelegenheit |
Where the eye mixes Worte and worum
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Worte with worum
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Worte is [ˈvɔʁtə] 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 7882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Worte is recorded at frequency rank #1,002, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɔʁtə]. 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 7882, this pair ranks #1,986,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Worte vs worum
Shared letters: orw. Private to "Worte": et. Private to "worum": mu.
"Worte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "worum" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Worte" for "worum" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Worte" or "worum" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Worte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "worum" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,986,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Worte" and "worum" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wörth vs worum". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,986,510 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.