ScharfschützevsScharfschützenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,895
“Scharfschütze” frequency rank
#32,752
“Scharfschützen” frequency rank
67647
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Scharfschütze Scharfschützen
Definition Schütze zur gezielten Personenbekämpfung von Personen durch Präzisionsschüsse (paramilitärisch) Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Scharfschütze

Where the eye mixes Scharfschütze and Scharfschützen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 13 letters in sequence. Scharfschütze runs 13 letters (CCCVCCCCCVCCV) against Scharfschützen's 14 (CCCVCCCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

13 ch
Scharfschütze
14 ch
Scharfschützen

Visual trap between Scharfschütze and Scharfschützen

A purely visual mix-up. Scharfschütze ([ˈʃaʁfˌʃʏt͡sə]) and Scharfschützen ([ˈʃaʁfˌʃʏt͡sn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Scharfschütze” sits inside “Scharfschützen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Scharfschütze is recorded at frequency rank #34,895, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃaʁfˌʃʏt͡sə]. Scharfschützen is at rank #32,752, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃaʁfˌʃʏt͡sn̩].

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 67647, this pair ranks #533,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Scharfschütze vs Scharfschützen

Shared letters: acefhrstzü. Private to "Scharfschütze": -. Private to "Scharfschützen": n.

"Scharfschütze" · 13 letters · shape CCCVCCCCCVCCV  ·  "Scharfschützen" · 14 letters · shape CCCVCCCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Scharfschütze" for "Scharfschützen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃaʁfˌʃʏt͡sə] versus [ˈʃaʁfˌʃʏt͡sn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Scharfschütze" vs "Scharfschützen" - which ranks higher?
"Scharfschützen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,752 in our German list, against #34,895 for "Scharfschütze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Scharfschütze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Scharfschützen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #533,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics

Confusion rank #533,350 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