Which to use
“Schafen” is a noun and “schafften” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,296
- “Schafen” frequency rank
- #15,989
- “schafften” frequency rank
- 39285
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schafen | schafften |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Schaf | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schaffen |
Where the eye mixes Schafen and schafften
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Schafen runs 7 letters (CCCVCVC) against schafften's 9 (CCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Schafen with schafften
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schafen is [ˈʃaːfn̩] while schafften is [ˈʃaftn̩]. 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 39285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schafen is recorded at frequency rank #23,296, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃaːfn̩]. schafften is at rank #15,989, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃaftn̩].
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 39285, this pair ranks #1,540,982 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Schafen vs schafften
Shared letters: acefhns. Private to "Schafen": -. Private to "schafften": t.
"Schafen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC · "schafften" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Schafen" for "schafften" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Schafen" vs "schafften" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schafen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schafften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,540,982 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schafen" and "schafften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schafen 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 #1,540,982 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.