Which to use
“scharfen” is an adjective and “scheren” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,448
- “scharfen” frequency rank
- #18,054
- “scheren” frequency rank
- 27502
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scharfen | scheren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs scharf | etwas mit einer Schere oder ähnlichem Gerät entfernen, etwas mit einer Schere oder ähnlichem Gerät von etwas befreien |
Where the eye mixes scharfen and scheren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses scharfen with scheren
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scharfen is [ˈʃaʁfn̩] while scheren is [ˈʃeːʁən]. 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 27502, 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]. scheren is at rank #18,054, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃeːʁən].
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 27502, this pair ranks #1,800,757 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of scharfen vs scheren
Shared letters: cehnrs. Private to "scharfen": af. Private to "scheren": -.
"scharfen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC · "scheren" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "scharfen" for "scheren" ever safe?
Frequency check: "scharfen" vs "scheren" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "scharfen" and "scheren" 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 "scheren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,800,757 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scharfen" and "scheren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scheren vs schlieren". 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 #1,800,757 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.