schaffenvsschafftWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#691
“schaffen” frequency rank
#1,708
“schafft” frequency rank
2399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schaffen schafft
Definition etwas künstlerisch oder handwerklich erzeugen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schaffen

Where the eye mixes schaffen and schafft

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
schaffen
7 ch
schafft

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. schaffen ([ˈʃafn̩]) and schafft ([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 2399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schaffen is recorded at frequency rank #691, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃafn̩]. schafft is at rank #1,708, tagged as averb, 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 2399, this pair ranks #2,002,440 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schaffen vs schafft

Shared letters: acfhs. Private to "schaffen": en. Private to "schafft": t.

"schaffen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "schafft" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schaffencshaffen · scahffen · scchaffen · schafefn · schaffenn · schaffne · schfafen · schhaffen
  • schafftcshafft · scahfft · scchafft · schafftt · schaftf · schfaft · schhafft · shcafft

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schaffen" and "schafft" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃafn̩] versus [ʃaft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schaffen" or "schafft"?
"schaffen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #691 in our German list, against #1,708 for "schafft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "schaffen" and "schafft". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schaffen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schafft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,002,440 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schaffen" and "schafft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schafft vs schallt". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list