ScherzvsschiereWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Scherz is a noun, schiere is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Scherz” is a noun and “schiere” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,876
“Scherz” frequency rank
#45,567
“schiere” frequency rank
51443
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Scherz schiere
Definition nicht ernst zu Nehmendes Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schier

Where the eye mixes Scherz and schiere

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Scherz
7 ch
schiere

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Scherz is [ʃɛʁt͡s] while schiere is [ˈʃiːʁə]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51443, 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]. schiere is at rank #45,567, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃiːʁə].

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 51443, this pair ranks #1,135,352 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Scherz vs schiere

Shared letters: cehrs. Private to "Scherz": z. Private to "schiere": i.

"Scherz" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "schiere" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Scherzcsherz · sccherz · scehrz · scherrz · scherzz · schezr · schherz · schrez
  • schierecshiere · scchiere · scheire · schhiere · schieer · schierre · schiree · shciere

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Scherz" and "schiere" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Scherz" is a noun and "schiere" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Scherz" or "schiere"?
"Scherz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,876 in our German list, against #45,567 for "schiere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Scherz" and "schiere". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Scherz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schiere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,135,352 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Scherz" and "schiere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schiere vs Schmiere". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list