schautvsschontConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,818
“schaut” frequency rank
#36,616
“schont” frequency rank
38434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schaut schont
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schauen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schonen

Where the eye mixes schaut and schont

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
schaut
6 ch
schont

Look-alike desk: schaut vs schont

A purely visual mix-up. schaut ([ʃaʊ̯t]) and schont ([ʃoːnt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schaut is recorded at frequency rank #1,818, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃaʊ̯t]. schont is at rank #36,616, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃoːnt].

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 38434, this pair ranks #1,564,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schaut vs schont

Shared letters: chst. Private to "schaut": au. Private to "schont": no.

"schaut" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC  ·  "schont" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schautcshaut · scahut · scchaut · schatu · schautt · schhaut · schuat · shcaut
  • schontcshont · scchont · schhont · schnot · schonnt · schontt · schotn · scohnt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schaut" for "schont" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃaʊ̯t] versus [ʃoːnt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "schaut" or "schont" show up more?
"schaut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,818 in our German list, against #36,616 for "schont". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schaut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schont" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,564,084 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schaut" and "schont" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schont vs schütt". 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 #1,564,084 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