WünschevswurschtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Wünsche is a noun, wurscht is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Wünsche” is a noun and “wurscht” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,440
“Wünsche” frequency rank
#22,575
“wurscht” frequency rank
24015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wünsche wurscht
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Wunsch ohne Belang, ohne Bedeutung, ohne Interesse aus der Sicht der sich äußernden Person

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
Wünsche
7 ch
wurscht

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wünsche is [ˈvʏnʃə] while wurscht is [vʊʁʃt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wünsche is recorded at frequency rank #1,440, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvʏnʃə]. wurscht is at rank #22,575, tagged as anadj, pronounced [vʊʁʃt].

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 24015, this pair ranks #1,853,472 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wünsche vs wurscht

Shared letters: chsw. Private to "Wünsche": enü. Private to "wurscht": rtu.

"Wünsche" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV  ·  "wurscht" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wurschtuwrscht · wruscht · wurcsht · wurrscht · wursccht · wurschht · wurschtt · wurscth

Frequency comparison

Wünsche#1,440
wurscht#22,575

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wünsche" and "wurscht" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wünsche" is a noun and "wurscht" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wünsche" or "wurscht"?
"Wünsche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,440 in our German list, against #22,575 for "wurscht". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Wünsche vs wurscht

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Wünsche”; for an adjective, it's “wurscht”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Wünsche” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list