scheuevsScheunenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: scheue is a adjective, Scheunen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#42,110
“scheue” frequency rank
#42,786
“Scheunen” frequency rank
84896
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scheue Scheunen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs scheu Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Scheune

Where the eye mixes scheue and Scheunen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
scheue
8 ch
Scheunen

Visual trap between scheue and Scheunen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scheue is [ˈʃɔɪ̯ə] while Scheunen is [ˈʃɔɪ̯nən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scheue is recorded at frequency rank #42,110, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃɔɪ̯ə]. Scheunen is at rank #42,786, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɔɪ̯nən].

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 84896, this pair ranks #116,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of scheue vs Scheunen

Shared letters: cehsu. Private to "scheue": -. Private to "Scheunen": n.

"scheue" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVV  ·  "Scheunen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scheuecsheue · sccheue · scehue · scheeu · schheue · schuee · shceue · sscheue
  • Scheunencsheunen · sccheunen · scehunen · schenuen · scheunenn · scheunnen · schheunen · schuenen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "scheue" and "Scheunen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scheue" is an adjective and "Scheunen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "scheue" vs "Scheunen" - which ranks higher?
"scheue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,110 in our German list, against #42,786 for "Scheunen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "scheue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Scheunen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #116,528 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scheue" and "Scheunen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Scheunen vs schmusen". 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 #116,528 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