schauevsshameWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: schaue is a adjective, shame is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“schaue” is an adjective and “shame” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,228
“schaue” frequency rank
#43,491
“shame” frequency rank
47719
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schaue shame
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schau jemanden beschämen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set schaue and shame apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
schaue
5 ch
shame

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: schaue is anadjective and shameaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schaue is recorded at frequency rank #4,228, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃaʊ̯ə]. shame is at rank #43,491, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 47719, this pair ranks #1,274,492 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schaue vs shame

Shared letters: aehs. Private to "schaue": cu. Private to "shame": m.

"schaue" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVV  ·  "shame" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schauecshaue · scahue · scchaue · schaeu · schhaue · schuae · shcaue · sschaue
  • shamehsame · sahme · shaem · shamme · shhame · shmae · sshame

Frequency comparison

schaue#4,228
shame#43,491

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schaue" and "shame" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schaue" is an adjective and "shame" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "schaue" or "shame"?
"schaue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,228 in our German list, against #43,491 for "shame". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering schaue vs shame

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “schaue”; for a verb, it's “shame”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “schaue” 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