scharfvsSchiriWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: scharf is a adjective, Schiri is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“scharf” is an adjective and “Schiri” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,070
“scharf” frequency rank
#22,128
“Schiri” frequency rank
25198
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scharf Schiri
Definition fähig, etwas zu (zer)schneiden oder zu stechen (männliche) Person, die bei Sportwettkämpfen über die Einhaltung der Regeln wacht

Where the eye mixes scharf and Schiri

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

6 ch
scharf
6 ch
Schiri

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scharf is [ʃaʁf] while Schiri is [ˈʃiːʁi]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25198, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scharf is recorded at frequency rank #3,070, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃaʁf]. Schiri is at rank #22,128, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃiːʁi].

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 25198, this pair ranks #1,836,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of scharf vs Schiri

Shared letters: chrs. Private to "scharf": af. Private to "Schiri": i.

"scharf" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "Schiri" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scharfcsharf · scahrf · sccharf · schafr · scharff · scharrf · schharf · schraf
  • Schiricshiri · scchiri · schhiri · schiir · schirri · schrii · scihri · shciri

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "scharf" and "Schiri" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scharf" is an adjective and "Schiri" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "scharf" or "Schiri"?
"scharf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,070 in our German list, against #22,128 for "Schiri". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "scharf" and "Schiri". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "scharf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schiri" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,836,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scharf" and "Schiri" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schiri vs Schirme". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list