schafftvsSchiffsConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#1,708
“schafft” frequency rank
#21,413
“Schiffs” frequency rank
23121
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schafft Schiffs
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schaffen Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Schiff

Where the eye mixes schafft and Schiffs

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

7 ch
schafft
7 ch
Schiffs

Look-alike desk: schafft vs Schiffs

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schafft is [ʃaft] while Schiffs is [ʃɪfs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schafft is recorded at frequency rank #1,708, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃaft]. Schiffs is at rank #21,413, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃɪfs].

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 23121, this pair ranks #1,865,517 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schafft vs Schiffs

Shared letters: cfhs. Private to "schafft": at. Private to "Schiffs": i.

"schafft" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCC  ·  "Schiffs" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schafftcshafft · scahfft · scchafft · schafftt · schaftf · schfaft · schhafft · shcafft
  • Schiffscshiffs · scchiffs · schfifs · schhiffs · schiffss · schifs · schifsf · scihffs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schafft" for "Schiffs" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schafft" is a verb and "Schiffs" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "schafft" vs "Schiffs" - which ranks higher?
"schafft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,708 in our German list, against #21,413 for "Schiffs". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "schafft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schiffs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,865,517 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schafft" and "Schiffs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schiffs vs Schilf". 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 #1,865,517 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