scheuevsschieleWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,110
“scheue” frequency rank
#38,389
“schiele” frequency rank
80499
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scheue schiele
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs scheu 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schielen

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
scheue
7 ch
schiele

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scheue is [ˈʃɔɪ̯ə] while schiele is [ˈʃiːlə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80499, 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]. schiele is at rank #38,389, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃiːlə].

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 80499, this pair ranks #194,335 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of scheue vs schiele

Shared letters: cehs. Private to "scheue": u. Private to "schiele": il.

"scheue" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVV  ·  "schiele" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scheuecsheue · sccheue · scehue · scheeu · schheue · schuee · shceue · sscheue
  • schielecshiele · scchiele · scheile · schhiele · schieel · schielle · schilee · scihele

Frequency comparison

scheue#42,110
schiele#38,389

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "scheue" and "schiele" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scheue" is an adjective and "schiele" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "scheue" or "schiele"?
"schiele" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,389 in our German list, against #42,110 for "scheue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering scheue vs schiele

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list