schaltvsScharTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#23,692
“schalt” frequency rank
#21,759
“Schar” frequency rank
45451
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schalt Schar
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schalten Gruppe von Personen oder Tieren; auch (An-)Sammlung von Dingen

Where the eye mixes schalt and Schar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
schalt
5 ch
Schar

Visual trap between schalt and Schar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schalt is [ʃalt] while Schar is [ʃaːɐ̯]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schalt is recorded at frequency rank #23,692, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃalt]. Schar is at rank #21,759, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃaːɐ̯].

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 45451, this pair ranks #1,352,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schalt vs Schar

Shared letters: achs. Private to "schalt": lt. Private to "Schar": r.

"schalt" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "Schar" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schaltcshalt · scahlt · scchalt · schaltt · schatl · schhalt · schlat · shcalt
  • Scharcshar · scahr · scchar · scharr · schhar · schra · shcar · sschar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schalt" and "Schar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schalt" is a verb and "Schar" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "schalt" vs "Schar" - which ranks higher?
"Schar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,759 in our German list, against #23,692 for "schalt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schalt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,352,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schalt" and "Schar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schalt vs schütt". 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 #1,352,555 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