SchellevsSchildeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,609
“Schelle” frequency rank
#23,693
“Schilde” frequency rank
60302
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schelle Schilde
Definition Glocke Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Schild

Where the eye mixes Schelle and Schilde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Schelle and Schilde follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Schelle
7 ch
Schilde

Look-alike desk: Schelle vs Schilde

A purely visual mix-up. Schelle ([ˈʃɛlə]) and Schilde ([ˈʃɪldə]) 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 60302, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schelle is recorded at frequency rank #36,609, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɛlə]. Schilde is at rank #23,693, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɪldə].

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 60302, this pair ranks #792,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schelle vs Schilde

Shared letters: cehls. Private to "Schelle": -. Private to "Schilde": di.

"Schelle" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "Schilde" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schelle ← cshelle · scchelle · scehlle · schelel · schhelle · schlele · shcelle · sschelle
  • Schilde ← cshilde · scchilde · schhilde · schidle · schildde · schiled · schillde · schlide

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schelle" for "Schilde" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɛlə] versus [ˈʃɪldə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Schelle" or "Schilde" show up more?
"Schilde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,693 in our German list, against #36,609 for "Schelle". 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 "Schelle" and "Schilde" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schelle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schilde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #792,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schelle" and "Schilde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schelle vs schrille". 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 #792,077 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