wühlen vs wurden, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“wühlen” and “wurden” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,397
“wühlen” frequency rank: #149
“wurden” frequency rank: 30546
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	wühlen	wurden
Definition	meist mit technischen Hilfsmitteln im Erdboden graben	1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs werden

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

wühlen

6 ch

wurden

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. wühlen ([ˈvyːlən]) and wurden ([ˈvʊʁdn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30546, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wühlen is recorded at frequency rank #30,397, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvyːlən]. wurden is at rank #149, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvʊʁdn̩].

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 30546, this pair ranks #1,745,715 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wühlen vs wurden

Shared letters: enw. Private to "wühlen": hlü. Private to "wurden": dru.

"wühlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wurden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

wurden ← uwrden · wruden · wudren · wurdden · wurdenn · wurdne · wuredn · wurrden

Frequency comparison

wühlen#30,397

wurden#149

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wühlen" and "wurden" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([ˈvyːlən] versus [ˈvʊʁdn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "wühlen" or "wurden"?

"wurden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #149 in our German list, against #30,397 for "wühlen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering wühlen vs wurden

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wühlen” entry
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