SchaffensvsschafftenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#24,909
“Schaffens” frequency rank
#15,989
“schafften” frequency rank
40898
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schaffens schafften
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Schaffen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schaffen

Where the eye mixes Schaffens and schafften

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
Schaffens
9 ch
schafften

Look-alike desk: Schaffens vs schafften

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schaffens is [ˈʃafn̩s] while schafften is [ˈʃaftn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40898, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schaffens is recorded at frequency rank #24,909, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃafn̩s]. 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 40898, this pair ranks #1,495,162 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schaffens vs schafften

Shared letters: acefhns. Private to "Schaffens": -. Private to "schafften": t.

"Schaffens" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCVCC  ·  "schafften" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schaffenscshaffens · scahffens · scchaffens · schafefns · schafens · schaffenns · schaffenss · schaffesn
  • schafftencshafften · scahfften · scchafften · schaffetn · schafftenn · schafftne · schafftten · schaften

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schaffens" for "schafften" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schaffens" is a noun and "schafften" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Schaffens" or "schafften" show up more?
"schafften" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,989 in our German list, against #24,909 for "Schaffens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schaffens" 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 #1,495,162 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schaffens" and "schafften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schaffens vs Schöffen". 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 #1,495,162 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