SchamanenvsschämenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#37,185
“Schamanen” frequency rank
#7,663
“schämen” frequency rank
44848
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schamanen schämen
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Schamane Scham empfinden

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Schamanen and schämen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
Schamanen
7 ch
schämen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schamanen is [ʃaˈmaːnən] while schämen is [ˈʃɛːmən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 44848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schamanen is recorded at frequency rank #37,185, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃaˈmaːnən]. schämen is at rank #7,663, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɛːmən].

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 44848, this pair ranks #1,372,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schamanen vs schämen

Shared letters: cehmns. Private to "Schamanen": a. Private to "schämen": ä.

"Schamanen" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCVCVC  ·  "schämen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schamanencshamanen · scahmanen · scchamanen · schaamnen · schamaenn · schamanenn · schamanne · schamannen

Frequency comparison

Schamanen#37,185
schämen#7,663

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schamanen" and "schämen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schamanen" is a noun and "schämen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Schamanen" or "schämen"?
"schämen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,663 in our German list, against #37,185 for "Schamanen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Schamanen vs schämen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Schamanen”; for a verb, it's “schämen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Schamanen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list