Which to use
“Scherz” is a noun and “scherzen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,876
- “Scherz” frequency rank
- #33,267
- “scherzen” frequency rank
- 39143
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Scherz | scherzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht ernst zu Nehmendes | Späße machen, einen Scherz machen, es nicht ernst meinen |
Where the eye mixes Scherz and scherzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Scherz and scherzen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Scherz is [ʃɛʁt͡s] while scherzen is [ˈʃɛʁt͡sn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Scherz” sits inside “scherzen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Scherz is recorded at frequency rank #5,876, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃɛʁt͡s]. scherzen is at rank #33,267, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɛʁt͡sn̩].
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 39143, this pair ranks #1,544,952 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Scherz vs scherzen
Shared letters: cehrsz. Private to "Scherz": -. Private to "scherzen": n.
"Scherz" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC · "scherzen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Scherz" and "scherzen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Scherz" or "scherzen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Scherz" and "scherzen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Scherz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "scherzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,544,952 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Scherz" and "scherzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schellen vs scherzen". 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 #1,544,952 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.