Which to use
“Schaf” is a noun and “schläft” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,743
- “Schaf” frequency rank
- #5,531
- “schläft” frequency rank
- 17274
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schaf | schläft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Paarhufer, der als Lieferant für Wolle, Fleisch und Milch dient | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schlafen |
Where the eye mixes Schaf and schläft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Schaf vs schläft
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schaf is [ʃaːf] while schläft is [ʃlɛːft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 17274, 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]. schläft is at rank #5,531, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃlɛːft].
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 17274, this pair ranks #1,928,838 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Schaf vs schläft
Shared letters: cfhs. Private to "Schaf": a. Private to "schläft": ltä.
"Schaf" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC · "schläft" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Schaf ← cshaf · scahf · scchaf · schfa · schhaf · shcaf · sschaf
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Schaf" for "schläft" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Schaf" or "schläft"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Schaf" and "schläft" 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 "schläft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,928,838 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schaf" and "schläft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schaf vs Schläfe". 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 #1,928,838 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.