WürfelvswürzeConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#12,005
“Würfel” frequency rank
#28,953
“würze” frequency rank
40958
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Würfel würze
Definition regelmäßiger geometrischer Körper mit sechs quadratischen Flächen, bei dem alle Winkel 90 Grad betragen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs würzen

Where the eye mixes Würfel and würze

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Würfel runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against würze's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Würfel
5 ch
würze

Why the eye confuses Würfel with würze

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Würfel is [ˈvʏʁfl̩] while würze is [ˈvʏʁt͡sə]. 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 40958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Würfel is recorded at frequency rank #12,005, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvʏʁfl̩]. würze is at rank #28,953, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvʏʁt͡sə].

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 40958, this pair ranks #1,493,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Würfel vs würze

Shared letters: erwü. Private to "Würfel": fl. Private to "würze": z.

"Würfel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "würze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Würfel" for "würze" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Würfel" is a noun and "würze" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Würfel" vs "würze" - which ranks higher?
"Würfel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,005 in our German list, against #28,953 for "würze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Würfel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "würze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,493,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Würfel" and "würze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "würze vs würzig". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,493,420 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list