SchächtevsschlechteConfusable pair

Quick tell: Schächte is a noun, schlechte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Schächte” is a noun and “schlechte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,799
“Schächte” frequency rank
#1,784
“schlechte” frequency rank
44583
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schächte schlechte
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Schacht Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schlecht

Where the eye mixes Schächte and schlechte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Schächte
9 ch
schlechte

Look-alike desk: Schächte vs schlechte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schächte is [ˈʃɛçtə] while schlechte is [ˈʃlɛçtə]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44583, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schächte is recorded at frequency rank #42,799, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɛçtə]. schlechte is at rank #1,784, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃlɛçtə].

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 44583, this pair ranks #1,381,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schächte vs schlechte

Shared letters: cehst. Private to "Schächte": ä. Private to "schlechte": l.

"Schächte" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCCV  ·  "schlechte" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schlechtecshlechte · scchlechte · schelchte · schhlechte · schlcehte · schlecchte · schlechet · schlechhte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schächte" and "schlechte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schächte" is a noun and "schlechte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Schächte" or "schlechte"?
"schlechte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,784 in our German list, against #42,799 for "Schächte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Schächte" and "schlechte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schächte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schlechte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,381,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schächte" and "schlechte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sachte vs Schächte". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,381,483 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