Which to use
“Schale” is a noun and “scharf” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,451
- “Schale” frequency rank
- #3,070
- “scharf” frequency rank
- 11521
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schale | scharf |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine feste Schutzhülle, zum Beispiel bei Früchten, Samen, Vogeleiern, Lebensmitteln | fähig, etwas zu (zer)schneiden oder zu stechen |
Where the eye mixes Schale and scharf
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Schale vs scharf
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schale is [ˈʃaːlə] while scharf is [ʃaʁf]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schale is recorded at frequency rank #8,451, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃaːlə]. scharf is at rank #3,070, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃaʁf].
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 11521, this pair ranks #1,969,455 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Schale vs scharf
Shared letters: achs. Private to "Schale": el. Private to "scharf": fr.
"Schale" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV · "scharf" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Schale" for "scharf" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Schale" or "scharf"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Schale" and "scharf" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "scharf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,969,455 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schale" and "scharf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schale vs Schnalle". 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 #1,969,455 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.