Which to use
“Schafe” and “Schläfer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,390
- “Schafe” frequency rank
- #46,967
- “Schläfer” frequency rank
- 54357
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schafe | Schläfer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Schaf | Person, die schläft, die sich im Schlafzustand befindet |
Where the eye mixes Schafe and Schläfer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Schafe vs Schläfer
A purely visual mix-up. Schafe ([ˈʃaːfə]) and Schläfer ([ˈʃlɛːfɐ]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54357, 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]. Schläfer is at rank #46,967, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃlɛːfɐ].
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 54357, this pair ranks #1,022,115 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Schafe vs Schläfer
Shared letters: cefhs. Private to "Schafe": a. Private to "Schläfer": lrä.
"Schafe" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV · "Schläfer" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Schafe ← cshafe · scahfe · scchafe · schaef · schfae · schhafe · shcafe · sschafe
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Schafe" and "Schläfer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Schafe" or "Schläfer" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Schafe" and "Schläfer" 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 "Schläfer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,022,115 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schafe" and "Schläfer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schläfe vs Schläfer". 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 #1,022,115 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.