schälenvsschaltetTell them apart

Which to use

“schälen” and “schaltet” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,485
“schälen” frequency rank
#9,624
“schaltet” frequency rank
37109
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schälen schaltet
Definition etwas von einer Schale, Haut, Hülle, Pelle befreien; eine Schale, Haut, Hülle, Pelle beseitigen, entfernen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schalten

Where the eye mixes schälen and schaltet

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

7 ch
schälen
8 ch
schaltet

Visual trap between schälen and schaltet

A purely visual mix-up. schälen ([ˈʃɛːlən]) and schaltet ([ˈʃaltət]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schälen is recorded at frequency rank #27,485, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɛːlən]. schaltet is at rank #9,624, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃaltət].

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 37109, this pair ranks #1,598,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schälen vs schaltet

Shared letters: cehls. Private to "schälen": . Private to "schaltet": at.

"schälen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC  ·  "schaltet" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schaltetcshaltet · scahltet · scchaltet · schalett · schalltet · schaltett · schaltte · schalttet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schälen" for "schaltet" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɛːlən] versus [ˈʃaltət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schälen" or "schaltet"?
"schaltet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,624 in our German list, against #27,485 for "schälen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "schälen" and "schaltet" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schälen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schaltet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,598,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schälen" and "schaltet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schälchen vs schälen". 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 #1,598,612 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