Which to use
“scharfen” is an adjective and “schauen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,448
- “scharfen” frequency rank
- #958
- “schauen” frequency rank
- 10406
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scharfen | schauen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs scharf | mehr aktiv als passiv mit den Augen wahrnehmen (also oft willentlich, aus eigenem Bestreben heraus/ durch eigenes Zutun herbeigeführt) |
Where the eye mixes scharfen and schauen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. scharfen runs 8 letters (CCCVCCVC) against schauen's 7 (CCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between scharfen and schauen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scharfen is [ˈʃaʁfn̩] while schauen is [ˈʃaʊ̯ən]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10406, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scharfen is recorded at frequency rank #9,448, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃaʁfn̩]. schauen is at rank #958, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃaʊ̯ən].
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 10406, this pair ranks #1,975,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of scharfen vs schauen
Shared letters: acehns. Private to "scharfen": fr. Private to "schauen": u.
"scharfen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC · "schauen" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "scharfen" for "schauen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "scharfen" or "schauen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "scharfen" and "schauen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "scharfen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,975,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scharfen" and "schauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scharfen vs schrien". 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 #1,975,300 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.