schaltvsschürtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,692
“schalt” frequency rank
#33,284
“schürt” frequency rank
56976
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schalt schürt
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schalten 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schüren

Where the eye mixes schalt and schürt

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

6 ch
schalt
6 ch
schürt

Why the eye confuses schalt with schürt

A purely visual mix-up. schalt ([ʃalt]) and schürt ([ʃyːɐ̯t]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56976, 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]. schürt is at rank #33,284, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃyːɐ̯t].

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 56976, this pair ranks #919,426 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schalt vs schürt

Shared letters: chst. Private to "schalt": al. Private to "schürt": .

"schalt" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "schürt" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schaltcshalt · scahlt · scchalt · schaltt · schatl · schhalt · schlat · shcalt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schalt" for "schürt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃalt] versus [ʃyːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "schalt" or "schürt" show up more?
"schalt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,692 in our German list, against #33,284 for "schürt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schalt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schürt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #919,426 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schalt" and "schürt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schurke vs schürt". 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 #919,426 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