schärferevsscharfesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,282
“schärfere” frequency rank
#23,297
“scharfes” frequency rank
53579
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schärfere scharfes
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Komparativs des Adjektivs scharf Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs scharf

Where the eye mixes schärfere and scharfes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. schärfere runs 9 letters (CCCVCCVCV) against scharfes's 8 (CCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
schärfere
8 ch
scharfes

Look-alike desk: schärfere vs scharfes

A purely visual mix-up. schärfere ([ˈʃɛʁfəʁə]) and scharfes ([ˈʃaʁfəs]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53579, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schärfere is recorded at frequency rank #30,282, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃɛʁfəʁə]. scharfes is at rank #23,297, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃaʁfəs].

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 53579, this pair ranks #1,052,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schärfere vs scharfes

Shared letters: cefhrs. Private to "schärfere": ä. Private to "scharfes": a.

"schärfere" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCVCV  ·  "scharfes" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scharfes ← csharfes · scahrfes · sccharfes · schafres · scharefs · scharfess · scharffes · scharfse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "schärfere" and "scharfes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɛʁfəʁə] versus [ˈʃaʁfəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schärfere" or "scharfes"?
"scharfes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,297 in our German list, against #30,282 for "schärfere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schärfere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "scharfes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,052,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schärfere" and "scharfes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schärfere vs schärfste". 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 #1,052,481 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