waren

\ˈvaːʁən\

/\ˈvaːʁən\/ verb

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

The verdict

“waren” is uncommon French (frequency #99,758 among 27,995 “W” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,758
frequency rank, French
27,995
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Première personne du pluriel du prétérit de l’indicatif à la forme active de sein.

Key facts for waren
PropertyValue
Headwordwaren
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ˈvaːʁən\
Letters5
Frequency rank#99,758
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “waren” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). waren lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

waren is uncommon French at frequency #99,758 among 27,995 “W” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed \ˈvaːʁən\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for waren in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is waren, spelled W-A-R-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Première personne du pluriel du prétérit de l’indicatif à la forme active de sein.
  2. 2
    Troisième personne du pluriel du prétérit de l’indicatif à la forme active de sein.

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "waren"?
"waren" is spelled W-A-R-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈvaːʁən\.
What does "waren" mean?
As a verb, "waren" means: Première personne du pluriel du prétérit de l’indicatif à la forme active de sein.
How do you pronounce "waren"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "waren" is \ˈvaːʁən\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "waren" come from?
"waren" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “waren”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is W-A-R-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ˈvaːʁən\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list