Schaden vs schieden, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,370
“Schaden” frequency rank: #31,773
“schieden” frequency rank: 33143
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Schaden	schieden
Definition	unerwünschte, negative Auswirkung	1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs scheiden

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Schaden and schieden apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

Schaden

8 ch

schieden

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schaden is [ˈʃaːdn̩] while schieden is [ˈʃiːdn̩]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schaden is recorded at frequency rank #1,370, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃaːdn̩]. schieden is at rank #31,773, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃiːdn̩].

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 33143, this pair ranks #1,692,353 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schaden vs schieden

Shared letters: cdehns. Private to "Schaden": a. Private to "schieden": i.

"Schaden" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC · "schieden" · 8 letters · shape CCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

Schaden ← cshaden · scahden · scchaden · schadden · schadenn · schadne · schaedn · schdaen
schieden ← cshieden · scchieden · schhieden · schideen · schiedden · schiedenn · schiedne · schieedn

Frequency comparison

Schaden#1,370

schieden#31,773

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schaden" and "schieden" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schaden" is a noun and "schieden" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Schaden" or "schieden"?

"Schaden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,370 in our German list, against #31,773 for "schieden". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Schaden vs schieden

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Schaden”; for a verb, it's “schieden”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Schaden” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable