SchattenvsschüttenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Schatten is a noun, schütten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Schatten” is a noun and “schütten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,612
“Schatten” frequency rank
#30,759
“schütten” frequency rank
33371
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schatten schütten
Definition ein nicht direkt beleuchteter Bereich etwas durch starkes Kippen aus einem Gefäß entfernen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Schatten and schütten apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
Schatten
8 ch
schütten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schatten is [ˈʃatn̩] while schütten is [ˈʃʏtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “Schatten” becomes ü in “schütten”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schatten is recorded at frequency rank #2,612, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃatn̩]. schütten is at rank #30,759, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʏtn̩].

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 33371, this pair ranks #1,687,409 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schatten vs schütten

Shared letters: cehnst. Private to "Schatten": a. Private to "schütten": ü.

"Schatten" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "schütten" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schattencshatten · scahtten · scchatten · schaten · schatetn · schattenn · schattne · schhatten

Frequency comparison

Schatten#2,612
schütten#30,759

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schatten" and "schütten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schatten" is a noun and "schütten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Schatten" or "schütten"?
"Schatten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,612 in our German list, against #30,759 for "schütten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Schatten vs schütten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Schatten”; for a verb, it's “schütten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Schatten” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list