schätzevsSchlitzeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#3,682
“schätze” frequency rank
#46,965
“Schlitze” frequency rank
50647
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schätze Schlitze
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schätzen Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Schlitz

Where the eye mixes schätze and Schlitze

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
schätze
8 ch
Schlitze

Why the eye confuses schätze with Schlitze

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schätze is [ˈʃɛt͡sə] while Schlitze is [ˈʃlɪt͡sə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schätze is recorded at frequency rank #3,682, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɛt͡sə]. Schlitze is at rank #46,965, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃlɪt͡sə].

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 50647, this pair ranks #1,165,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schätze vs Schlitze

Shared letters: cehstz. Private to "schätze": ä. Private to "Schlitze": il.

"schätze" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "Schlitze" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schlitzecshlitze · scchlitze · schhlitze · schiltze · schlitez · schlittze · schlitzze · schlizte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schätze" for "Schlitze" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schätze" is a verb and "Schlitze" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "schätze" or "Schlitze" show up more?
"schätze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,682 in our German list, against #46,965 for "Schlitze". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "schätze" and "Schlitze" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schätze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schlitze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,165,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schätze" and "Schlitze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schlitze vs schnitzen". 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 #1,165,802 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