ScheibenvsscherenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Scheiben is a noun, scheren is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Scheiben” is a noun and “scheren” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,272
“Scheiben” frequency rank
#18,054
“scheren” frequency rank
26326
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Scheiben scheren
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Scheibe etwas mit einer Schere oder ähnlichem Gerät entfernen, etwas mit einer Schere oder ähnlichem Gerät von etwas befreien

Where the eye mixes Scheiben and scheren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Scheiben
7 ch
scheren

Visual trap between Scheiben and scheren

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Scheiben is [ˈʃaɪ̯bn̩] while scheren is [ˈʃeːʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26326, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Scheiben is recorded at frequency rank #8,272, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃaɪ̯bn̩]. scheren is at rank #18,054, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃeːʁən].

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 26326, this pair ranks #1,819,826 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Scheiben vs scheren

Shared letters: cehns. Private to "Scheiben": bi. Private to "scheren": r.

"Scheiben" · 8 letters · shape CCCVVCVC  ·  "scheren" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Scheibencsheiben · sccheiben · scehiben · schebien · scheibben · scheibenn · scheibne · scheiebn
  • scherencsheren · sccheren · scehren · scheern · scherenn · scherne · scherren · schheren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Scheiben" for "scheren" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Scheiben" is a noun and "scheren" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Scheiben" vs "scheren" - which ranks higher?
"Scheiben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,272 in our German list, against #18,054 for "scheren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Scheiben" and "scheren" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Scheiben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "scheren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,819,826 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Scheiben" and "scheren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scheren vs schlieren". 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 #1,819,826 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