Schere vs schwöre, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#10,742
“Schere” frequency rank: #10,362
“schwöre” frequency rank: 21104
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Schere	schwöre
Definition	Gerät zum Schneiden von Papier und anderer dünner Materialien	1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schwören

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Schere and schwöre apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

Schere

7 ch

schwöre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schere is [ˈʃeːʁə] while schwöre is [ˈʃvøːʁə]. 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 21104, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schere is recorded at frequency rank #10,742, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃeːʁə]. schwöre is at rank #10,362, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃvøːʁə].

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 21104, this pair ranks #1,890,122 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schere vs schwöre

Shared letters: cehrs. Private to "Schere": -. Private to "schwöre": wö.

"Schere" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV · "schwöre" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

Schere ← cshere · scchere · scehre · scherre · schhere · schree · shcere · sschere

Frequency comparison

Schere#10,742

schwöre#10,362

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schere" and "schwöre" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schere" is a noun and "schwöre" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Schere" or "schwöre"?

"schwöre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,362 in our German list, against #10,742 for "Schere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Schere vs schwöre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Schere”; for a verb, it's “schwöre”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Schere” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable