wozu

[voˈt͡suː]

/[voˈt͡suː]/ adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“wozu” has 5 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #3,098. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,098
frequency rank, German
2,930
“W” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
16
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - fragt nach einem Zweck, einem Ziel, einem Nutzen

Corpus desk

Index DE-wozu · wozu · German

wozu · rank #3,098 · 5 variants · 16 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,098
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 16 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,930
  • PHOTO-FINISH wissenschaftl…

Nearest frequency peer: wissenschaftlichen (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „wozu“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „wozu“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

wozu vs Wu
25% similar
wozu vs wo
50% similar
wozu vs wow
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for wozu
PropertyValue
Headwordwozu
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdverb
IPA[voˈt͡suː]
Letters4
Frequency rank#3,098
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs16
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „wozu“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).wozuliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „wissenschaftlichen“ (#3,097), „Zucker“ (#3,099), „Wissenschaftler“ (#3,096). Unter 2,930 „W“-Lemmata liegt „wozu“ bei #3,098. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around wozu (IPA [voˈt͡suː]), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #3,098 among 2,930 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for wozu, with forms such as "owzu", "wouz", and "wozzu". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 16 confusable-pair relationships, "Wu", "wo", "wow", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is wozu, spelled W-O-Z-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    fragt nach einem Zweck, einem Ziel, einem Nutzen
  2. 2
    zu dem gerade Genannten, Gemeinten

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how wozu appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Wozu brauchst du einen neuen Anzug?
  2. Kannst du mir mal sagen, wozu du das haben willst?

Synonyms

warumweshalbweswegenwiesowofür

Antonyms

darumdeshalbdazudeswegen

This word in other languages

what for(English)por qué(Español)por que(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • owzu
  • wouz
  • wozzu
  • wwozu
  • wzou

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wozu - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

owzu2wouz2wozzu1wwozu1wzou2
Edit distance from "wozu"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "wozu"?
"wozu" is spelled W-O-Z-U. The IPA pronunciation is [voˈt͡suː].
What does "wozu" mean?
As an adverb, "wozu" means: fragt nach einem Zweck, einem Ziel, einem Nutzen
What words are commonly confused with "wozu"?
"wozu" is commonly confused with "Wu", "wo", "wow". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "wozu"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wozu" is [voˈt͡suː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "wozu" come from?
"wozu" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "wozu", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Züge#3,101game#3,119Kerl#3,132Loch#3,054

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

Nette5 variantsIran5 variantsChat5 variantsstill5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list