werkvsworksWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#46,860
“werk” frequency rank
#522
“works” frequency rank
47382
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature werk works
Definition Alternative form of work. plural of work in its countable senses

Letter map: werk vs works

Shared letters muted; letters that set werk and works apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

4 ch
werk
5 ch
works

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: werk is averb and worksanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47382, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

werk is recorded at frequency rank #46,860, classified as averb. works is at rank #522, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɜːks/.

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 47382, this pair ranks #202,996 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of werk vs works

Shared letters: krw. Private to "werk": e. Private to "works": os.

"werk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "works" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • werkewrk · wekr · werkk · werrk · wrek · wwerk
  • worksowrks · wokrs · workks · workss · worrks · worsk · wroks · wworks

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "werk" and "works" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "werk" is a verb and "works" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "werk" or "works"?
"works" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #522 in our English list, against #46,860 for "werk". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list