Which to use
“Schaum” is a noun and “scheue” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,990
- “Schaum” frequency rank
- #42,110
- “scheue” frequency rank
- 58100
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schaum | scheue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Gasbläschen, die von flüssigen Wänden eingeschlossen sind | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs scheu |
Where the eye mixes Schaum and scheue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Schaum and scheue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schaum is [ʃaʊ̯m] while scheue is [ˈʃɔɪ̯ə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schaum is recorded at frequency rank #15,990, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃaʊ̯m]. scheue is at rank #42,110, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃɔɪ̯ə].
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 58100, this pair ranks #875,818 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Schaum vs scheue
Shared letters: chsu. Private to "Schaum": am. Private to "scheue": e.
"Schaum" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC · "scheue" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Schaum" for "scheue" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Schaum" or "scheue"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Schaum" and "scheue" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schaum" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "scheue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #875,818 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schaum" and "scheue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scheue vs schiere". 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 #875,818 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.