SchachtelvsschächtenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#17,117
“Schachtel” frequency rank
#35,441
“schächten” frequency rank
52558
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schachtel schächten
Definition Verpackung, meistens in der Form eines Quaders mittels einer Schlachtmethode schlachten, wobei dem gefangenen Schlachtvieh betäubungslos der Hals aufgeschnitten wird, um es ausbluten zu lassen

Where the eye mixes Schachtel and schächten

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

9 ch
Schachtel
9 ch
schächten

Look-alike desk: Schachtel vs schächten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schachtel is [ˈʃaxtl̩] while schächten is [ˈʃɛçtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52558, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schachtel is recorded at frequency rank #17,117, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃaxtl̩]. schächten is at rank #35,441, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɛçtn̩].

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 52558, this pair ranks #1,092,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schachtel vs schächten

Shared letters: cehst. Private to "Schachtel": al. Private to "schächten": .

"Schachtel" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCCVC  ·  "schächten" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schachtelcshachtel · scahchtel · scchachtel · schacchtel · schachetl · schachhtel · schachtell · schachtle

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Schachtel" and "schächten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schachtel" is a noun and "schächten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Schachtel" vs "schächten" - which ranks higher?
"Schachtel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,117 in our German list, against #35,441 for "schächten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schachtel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schächten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,092,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schachtel" and "schächten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schächten vs Schälchen". 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 #1,092,084 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