SchafenvsSchaftConfusable pair

Which to use

“Schafen” and “Schaft” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,296
“Schafen” frequency rank
#17,398
“Schaft” frequency rank
40694
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schafen Schaft
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Schaf ein Griff an einer Stange und an anderen länglichen Gegenständen

Where the eye mixes Schafen and Schaft

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

7 ch
Schafen
6 ch
Schaft

Visual trap between Schafen and Schaft

A purely visual mix-up. Schafen ([ˈʃaːfn̩]) and Schaft ([ʃaft]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40694, 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]. Schaft is at rank #17,398, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃaft].

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 40694, this pair ranks #1,501,128 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schafen vs Schaft

Shared letters: acfhs. Private to "Schafen": en. Private to "Schaft": t.

"Schafen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC  ·  "Schaft" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schafencshafen · scahfen · scchafen · schaefn · schafenn · schafne · schfaen · schhafen
  • Schaftcshaft · scahft · scchaft · schaftt · schatf · schfat · schhaft · shcaft

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schafen" for "Schaft" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃaːfn̩] versus [ʃaft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Schafen" or "Schaft"?
"Schaft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,398 in our German list, against #23,296 for "Schafen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Schafen" and "Schaft" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schafen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schaft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,501,128 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schafen" and "Schaft" 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 #1,501,128 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