ScheervsscherConfusable pair

Quick tell: Scheer is a name, scher is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Scheer” is a name and “scher” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,349
“Scheer” frequency rank
#36,007
“scher” frequency rank
70356
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Scheer scher
Definition eine Stadt in Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scheren

Same sound, different letters: Scheer vs scher

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.

6 ch
Scheer
5 ch
scher

Homophone desk: Scheer vs scher

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: Scheer and scher carry the same recorded pronunciation, [ʃeːɐ̯]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is aname, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Scheer is recorded at frequency rank #34,349, classified as aname, pronounced [ʃeːɐ̯]. scher is at rank #36,007, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃeːɐ̯].

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 70356, this pair ranks #448,826 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Scheer vs scher

Shared letters: cehrs. Private to "Scheer": -. Private to "scher": -.

"Scheer" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC  ·  "scher" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Scheercsheer · sccheer · sceher · schheer · shceer · sscheer
  • schercsher · sccher · scehr · scherr · schher · schre · shcer · sscher

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Scheer" for "scher" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Scheer" is a name and "scher" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Scheer" or "scher" show up more?
"Scheer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,349 in our German list, against #36,007 for "scher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've separated the homophone pair "Scheer" / "scher". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Scheer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "scher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #448,826 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Scheer" and "scher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sacher vs scher". 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 #448,826 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