SchalevsschuldeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,451
“Schale” frequency rank
#44,206
“schulde” frequency rank
52657
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schale schulde
Definition eine feste Schutzhülle, zum Beispiel bei Früchten, Samen, Vogeleiern, Lebensmitteln 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schulden

Where the eye mixes Schale and schulde

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

6 ch
Schale
7 ch
schulde

Visual trap between Schale and schulde

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schale is [ˈʃaːlə] while schulde is [ˈʃʊldə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52657, 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]. schulde is at rank #44,206, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʊldə].

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 52657, this pair ranks #1,088,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schale vs schulde

Shared letters: cehls. Private to "Schale": a. Private to "schulde": du.

"Schale" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV  ·  "schulde" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schalecshale · scahle · scchale · schael · schalle · schhale · schlae · shcale
  • schuldecshulde · scchulde · schhulde · schlude · schudle · schuldde · schuled · schullde

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Schale" and "schulde" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schale" is a noun and "schulde" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Schale" vs "schulde" - which ranks higher?
"Schale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,451 in our German list, against #44,206 for "schulde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schulde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,088,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schale" and "schulde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schulde vs Schurke". 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 #1,088,337 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