scheelvsschiedConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#32,250
“scheel” frequency rank
#17,119
“schied” frequency rank
49369
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scheel schied
Definition schief, schiefblickend 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs scheiden

Where the eye mixes scheel and schied

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

6 ch
scheel
6 ch
schied

Why the eye confuses scheel with schied

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scheel is [ʃeːl] while schied is [ʃiːt]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scheel is recorded at frequency rank #32,250, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃeːl]. schied is at rank #17,119, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃiːt].

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 49369, this pair ranks #1,214,076 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of scheel vs schied

Shared letters: cehs. Private to "scheel": l. Private to "schied": di.

"scheel" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC  ·  "schied" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scheelcsheel · sccheel · scehel · scheell · schel · schele · schheel · shceel
  • schiedcshied · scchied · scheid · schhied · schide · schiedd · scihed · shcied

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "scheel" and "schied" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scheel" is an adjective and "schied" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "scheel" or "schied"?
"schied" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,119 in our German list, against #32,250 for "scheel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "scheel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schied" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,214,076 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scheel" and "schied" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scheel vs seel". 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 #1,214,076 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