Which to use
“scharfer” is an adjective and “Schaufel” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,412
- “scharfer” frequency rank
- #25,749
- “Schaufel” frequency rank
- 47161
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scharfer | Schaufel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs scharf | Handwerkzeug mit einem flachen, gebogenen Blatt und einem Stiel, um Erde, Kies, Sand, oder Material ähnlicher Konsistenz aufnehmen zu können |
Where the eye mixes scharfer and Schaufel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. scharfer (CCCVCCVC) and Schaufel (CCCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between scharfer and Schaufel
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scharfer is [ˈʃaʁfɐ] while Schaufel is [ˈʃaʊ̯fl̩]. 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 47161, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scharfer is recorded at frequency rank #21,412, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃaʁfɐ]. Schaufel is at rank #25,749, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃaʊ̯fl̩].
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 47161, this pair ranks #1,294,071 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of scharfer vs Schaufel
Shared letters: acefhs. Private to "scharfer": r. Private to "Schaufel": lu.
"scharfer" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC · "Schaufel" · 8 letters · shape CCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "scharfer" for "Schaufel" ever safe?
Which is more common, "scharfer" or "Schaufel"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "scharfer" and "Schaufel" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "scharfer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Schaufel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,294,071 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scharfer" and "Schaufel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schauder vs Schaufel". 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 #1,294,071 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.