Which to use
“schafften” is a verb and “schärfsten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,989
- “schafften” frequency rank
- #30,758
- “schärfsten” frequency rank
- 46747
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schafften | schärfsten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schaffen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs scharf |
Where the eye mixes schafften and schärfsten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. schafften runs 9 letters (CCCVCCCVC) against schärfsten's 10 (CCCVCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses schafften with schärfsten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schafften is [ˈʃaftn̩] while schärfsten is [ˈʃɛʁfstn̩]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46747, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schafften is recorded at frequency rank #15,989, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃaftn̩]. schärfsten is at rank #30,758, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃɛʁfstn̩].
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 46747, this pair ranks #1,308,412 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of schafften vs schärfsten
Shared letters: cefhnst. Private to "schafften": a. Private to "schärfsten": rä.
"schafften" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCCVC · "schärfsten" · 10 letters · shape CCCVCCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- schafften ← cshafften · scahfften · scchafften · schaffetn · schafftenn · schafftne · schafftten · schaften
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "schafften" and "schärfsten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "schafften" or "schärfsten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "schafften" and "schärfsten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "schafften" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schärfsten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,308,412 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schafften" and "schärfsten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schafften vs schätzten". 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 #1,308,412 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.