Which to use
“Scherben” and “Schere” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,399
- “Scherben” frequency rank
- #10,742
- “Schere” frequency rank
- 28141
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Scherben | Schere |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | gebrannter, unglasierter Ton | Gerät zum Schneiden von Papier und anderer dünner Materialien |
Where the eye mixes Scherben and Schere
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Scherben vs Schere
A purely visual mix-up. Scherben ([ˈʃɛʁbn̩]) and Schere ([ˈʃeːʁə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Scherben is recorded at frequency rank #17,399, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɛʁbn̩]. Schere is at rank #10,742, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃeːʁə].
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 28141, this pair ranks #1,789,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Scherben vs Schere
Shared letters: cehrs. Private to "Scherben": bn. Private to "Schere": -.
"Scherben" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC · "Schere" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Scherben" and "Schere" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Scherben" or "Schere" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Scherben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Schere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,789,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Scherben" and "Schere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schellen vs Scherben". 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 #1,789,846 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.