Which to use
“Scham” is a noun and “scher” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,373
- “Scham” frequency rank
- #36,007
- “scher” frequency rank
- 48380
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Scham | scher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | angstbesetztes Empfinden, das meist durch eigenes und von anderen beobachtbares Fehlverhalten ausgelöst wird, durch das man deren Achtung zu verlieren droht | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scheren |
Where the eye mixes Scham and scher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Scham and scher
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Scham is [ʃaːm] while scher is [ʃeːɐ̯]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48380, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Scham is recorded at frequency rank #12,373, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃaːm]. scher is at rank #36,007, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃeːɐ̯].
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 48380, this pair ranks #1,250,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Scham vs scher
Shared letters: chs. Private to "Scham": am. Private to "scher": er.
"Scham" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC · "scher" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Scham" and "scher" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Scham" vs "scher" - which ranks higher?
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 "Scham" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "scher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,250,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Scham" and "scher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sacher vs scher". 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 #1,250,645 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.