schärfevsshareWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,126
“schärfe” frequency rank
#22,140
“share” frequency rank
39266
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schärfe share
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schärfen teilen

Where the eye mixes schärfe and share

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

7 ch
schärfe
5 ch
share

Look-alike desk: schärfe vs share

A purely visual mix-up. schärfe ([ˈʃɛʁfə]) and share ([ʃɛər]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39266, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schärfe is recorded at frequency rank #17,126, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɛʁfə]. share is at rank #22,140, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃɛər].

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 39266, this pair ranks #1,541,476 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schärfe vs share

Shared letters: ehrs. Private to "schärfe": cfä. Private to "share": a.

"schärfe" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "share" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sharehsare · sahre · shaer · sharre · shhare · shrae · sshare

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "schärfe" and "share" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɛʁfə] versus [ʃɛər]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "schärfe" vs "share" - which ranks higher?
"schärfe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,126 in our German list, against #22,140 for "share". 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 "schärfe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "share" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,541,476 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schärfe" and "share" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "share vs Sire". 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 #1,541,476 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