SchafevsschiefeConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#7,390
“Schafe” frequency rank
#33,268
“schiefe” frequency rank
40658
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schafe schiefe
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Schaf Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schief

Where the eye mixes Schafe and schiefe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Schafe
7 ch
schiefe

Look-alike desk: Schafe vs schiefe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schafe is [ˈʃaːfə] while schiefe is [ˈʃiːfə]. 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 40658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schafe is recorded at frequency rank #7,390, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃaːfə]. schiefe is at rank #33,268, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃiːfə].

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 40658, this pair ranks #1,502,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schafe vs schiefe

Shared letters: cefhs. Private to "Schafe": a. Private to "schiefe": i.

"Schafe" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV  ·  "schiefe" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schafecshafe · scahfe · scchafe · schaef · schfae · schhafe · shcafe · sschafe
  • schiefecshiefe · scchiefe · scheife · schhiefe · schieef · schieffe · schifee · scihefe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Schafe" and "schiefe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schafe" is a noun and "schiefe" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Schafe" vs "schiefe" - which ranks higher?
"Schafe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,390 in our German list, against #33,268 for "schiefe". 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 "Schafe" and "schiefe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schafe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schiefe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,502,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schafe" and "schiefe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schiefe vs Schmiere". 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 #1,502,102 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