SchenkervsschenkteWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#34,897
“Schenker” frequency rank
#11,117
“schenkte” frequency rank
46014
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schenker schenkte
Definition jemand, der etwas verschenkt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schenken

Where the eye mixes Schenker and schenkte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Schenker (CCCVCCVC) and schenkte (CCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
Schenker
8 ch
schenkte

Why the eye confuses Schenker with schenkte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schenker is [ˈʃɛŋkɐ] while schenkte is [ˈʃɛŋktə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46014, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schenker is recorded at frequency rank #34,897, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɛŋkɐ]. schenkte is at rank #11,117, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɛŋktə].

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 46014, this pair ranks #1,333,445 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schenker vs schenkte

Shared letters: cehkns. Private to "Schenker": r. Private to "schenkte": t.

"Schenker" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "schenkte" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schenkercshenker · scchenker · scehnker · schekner · schenekr · schenkerr · schenkker · schenkre
  • schenktecshenkte · scchenkte · scehnkte · scheknte · schenket · schenkkte · schenktte · schennkte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Schenker" and "schenkte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schenker" is a noun and "schenkte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Schenker" or "schenkte" show up more?
"schenkte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,117 in our German list, against #34,897 for "Schenker". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schenker" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schenkte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,333,445 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schenker" and "schenkte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schenkeln vs Schenker". 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 #1,333,445 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