schellenvsscrollenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#46,957
“schellen” frequency rank
#27,052
“scrollen” frequency rank
74009
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schellen scrollen
Definition einen Signalton von sich geben den Bildausschnitt auf dem Bildschirm verschieben

Where the eye mixes schellen and scrollen

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

8 ch
schellen
8 ch
scrollen

Visual trap between schellen and scrollen

A purely visual mix-up. schellen ([ˈʃɛlən]) and scrollen ([ˈskʁɔlən]) 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 74009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schellen is recorded at frequency rank #46,957, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɛlən]. scrollen is at rank #27,052, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈskʁɔlən].

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 74009, this pair ranks #344,858 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of schellen vs scrollen

Shared letters: celns. Private to "schellen": h. Private to "scrollen": or.

"schellen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "scrollen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schellencshellen · scchellen · scehllen · scheleln · schelen · schellenn · schellne · schhellen
  • scrollencsrollen · sccrollen · scorllen · scrlolen · scroleln · scrolen · scrollenn · scrollne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schellen" for "scrollen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɛlən] versus [ˈskʁɔlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schellen" or "scrollen"?
"scrollen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,052 in our German list, against #46,957 for "schellen". 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 "schellen" and "scrollen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schellen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "scrollen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #344,858 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schellen" and "scrollen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schellen vs schrillen". 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 #344,858 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