WürfevswürgenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#35,002
“Würfe” frequency rank
#29,877
“würgen” frequency rank
64879
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Würfe würgen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Wurf jemandem die Kehle zudrücken

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Würfe
6 ch
würgen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Würfe is [ˈvʏʁfə] while würgen is [ˈvʏʁɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64879, 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]. würgen is at rank #29,877, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvʏʁɡn̩].

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 64879, this pair ranks #626,089 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Würfe vs würgen

Shared letters: erwü. Private to "Würfe": f. Private to "würgen": gn.

"Würfe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "würgen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequency comparison

Würfe#35,002
würgen#29,877

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Würfe" and "würgen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Würfe" is a noun and "würgen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Würfe" or "würgen"?
"würgen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,877 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 würgen

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 “würgen”.
  • 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