Which to use
“Schaf” and “Scham” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,743
- “Schaf” frequency rank
- #12,373
- “Scham” frequency rank
- 24116
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schaf | Scham |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Paarhufer, der als Lieferant für Wolle, Fleisch und Milch dient | angstbesetztes Empfinden, das meist durch eigenes und von anderen beobachtbares Fehlverhalten ausgelöst wird, durch das man deren Achtung zu verlieren droht |
Where the eye mixes Schaf and Scham
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Schaf with Scham
A purely visual mix-up. Schaf ([ʃaːf]) and Scham ([ʃaːm]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - f in “Schaf” becomes m in “Scham”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24116, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schaf is recorded at frequency rank #11,743, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃaːf]. Scham is at rank #12,373, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃaːm].
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 24116, this pair ranks #1,852,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Schaf vs Scham
Shared letters: achs. Private to "Schaf": f. Private to "Scham": m.
"Schaf" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC · "Scham" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Schaf" and "Scham" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Schaf" vs "Scham" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Schaf" and "Scham" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schaf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Scham" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,852,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schaf" and "Scham" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Scham vs Sesam". 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 #1,852,154 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.