ScharvsSchwazWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#21,759
“Schar” frequency rank
#43,479
“Schwaz” frequency rank
65238
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schar Schwaz
Definition Gruppe von Personen oder Tieren; auch (An-)Sammlung von Dingen österreichische Stadt in Tirol

Where the eye mixes Schar and Schwaz

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

5 ch
Schar
6 ch
Schwaz

Look-alike desk: Schar vs Schwaz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schar is [ʃaːɐ̯] while Schwaz is [ʃvaːt͡s]. 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 (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schar is recorded at frequency rank #21,759, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃaːɐ̯]. Schwaz is at rank #43,479, tagged as aname, pronounced [ʃvaːt͡s].

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 65238, this pair ranks #613,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schar vs Schwaz

Shared letters: achs. Private to "Schar": r. Private to "Schwaz": wz.

"Schar" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC  ·  "Schwaz" · 6 letters · shape CCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Scharcshar · scahr · scchar · scharr · schhar · schra · shcar · sschar
  • Schwazcshwaz · scchwaz · schawz · schhwaz · schwazz · schwwaz · schwza · scwhaz

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schar" for "Schwaz" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schar" is a noun and "Schwaz" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Schar" or "Schwaz" show up more?
"Schar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,759 in our German list, against #43,479 for "Schwaz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schwaz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #613,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schar" and "Schwaz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schwand vs Schwaz". 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 #613,780 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