WürfevswürfelnWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Würfe is a noun, würfeln is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Würfe” is a noun and “würfeln” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,002
“Würfe” frequency rank
#22,577
“würfeln” frequency rank
57579
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Würfe würfeln
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Wurf mit einem Würfel spielen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Würfe and würfeln apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Würfe
7 ch
würfeln

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Würfe is [ˈvʏʁfə] while würfeln is [ˈvʏʁfl̩n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Würfe” sits inside “würfeln”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57579, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Würfe is recorded at frequency rank #35,002, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvʏʁfə]. würfeln is at rank #22,577, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvʏʁfl̩n].

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 57579, this pair ranks #896,019 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Würfe vs würfeln

Shared letters: efrwü. Private to "Würfe": -. Private to "würfeln": ln.

"Würfe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "würfeln" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Frequency comparison

Würfe#35,002
würfeln#22,577

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Würfe" and "würfeln" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Würfe" is a noun and "würfeln" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Würfe" or "würfeln"?
"würfeln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,577 in our German list, against #35,002 for "Würfe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Würfe vs würfeln

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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