Which to use
“Schafe” is a noun and “schläft” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,390
- “Schafe” frequency rank
- #5,531
- “schläft” frequency rank
- 12921
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schafe | schläft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Schaf | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schlafen |
Where the eye mixes Schafe and schläft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Schafe with schläft
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schafe is [ˈʃaːfə] while schläft is [ʃlɛːft]. 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 12921, 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]. 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 12921, this pair ranks #1,961,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Schafe vs schläft
Shared letters: cfhs. Private to "Schafe": ae. Private to "schläft": ltä.
"Schafe" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV · "schläft" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Schafe ← cshafe · scahfe · scchafe · schaef · schfae · schhafe · shcafe · sschafe
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Schafe" and "schläft" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Schafe" vs "schläft" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schafe" 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 #1,961,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schafe" and "schläft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schafe 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 #1,961,207 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.