scherzevssicherteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“scherze” and “sicherte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,110
“scherze” frequency rank
#8,627
“sicherte” frequency rank
32737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scherze sicherte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scherzen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sichern

Where the eye mixes scherze and sicherte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. scherze runs 7 letters (CCCVCCV) against sicherte's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
scherze
8 ch
sicherte

Look-alike desk: scherze vs sicherte

A purely visual mix-up. scherze ([ˈʃɛʁt͡sə]) and sicherte ([ˈzɪçɐtə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scherze is recorded at frequency rank #24,110, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɛʁt͡sə]. sicherte is at rank #8,627, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪçɐtə].

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 32737, this pair ranks #1,701,120 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of scherze vs sicherte

Shared letters: cehrs. Private to "scherze": z. Private to "sicherte": it.

"scherze" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "sicherte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scherze ← csherze · sccherze · scehrze · scherez · scherrze · scherzze · schezre · schherze
  • sicherte ← ischerte · sciherte · siccherte · sicehrte · sicheret · sicherrte · sichertte · sichetre

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "scherze" and "sicherte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɛʁt͡sə] versus [ˈzɪçɐtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "scherze" or "sicherte"?
"sicherte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,627 in our German list, against #24,110 for "scherze". 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 "scherze" and "sicherte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "scherze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sicherte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,701,120 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scherze" and "sicherte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scherze vs Schurke". 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 #1,701,120 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