schaffevsSchaftWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: schaffe is a verb, Schaft is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“schaffe” is a verb and “Schaft” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,232
“schaffe” frequency rank
#17,398
“Schaft” frequency rank
23630
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schaffe Schaft
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schaffen ein Griff an einer Stange und an anderen länglichen Gegenständen

Where the eye mixes schaffe and Schaft

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

7 ch
schaffe
6 ch
Schaft

Visual trap between schaffe and Schaft

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schaffe is [ˈʃafə] while Schaft is [ʃaft]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23630, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schaffe is recorded at frequency rank #6,232, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃafə]. 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 23630, this pair ranks #1,858,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schaffe vs Schaft

Shared letters: acfhs. Private to "schaffe": e. Private to "Schaft": t.

"schaffe" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "Schaft" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schaffecshaffe · scahffe · scchaffe · schafef · schfafe · schhaffe · shcaffe · sschaffe
  • Schaftcshaft · scahft · scchaft · schaftt · schatf · schfat · schhaft · shcaft

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "schaffe" and "Schaft" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schaffe" is a verb and "Schaft" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "schaffe" or "Schaft"?
"schaffe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,232 in our German list, against #17,398 for "Schaft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schaffe" 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 #1,858,728 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schaffe" and "Schaft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schaft vs schütt". 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 #1,858,728 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