ScheunevsschoneConfusable pair

Quick tell: Scheune is a noun, schone is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Scheune” is a noun and “schone” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,514
“Scheune” frequency rank
#25,753
“schone” frequency rank
37267
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Scheune schone
Definition landwirtschaftliches Gebäude zum Aufbewahren von Gütern, insbesondere von Getreide 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schonen

Where the eye mixes Scheune and schone

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

7 ch
Scheune
6 ch
schone

Why the eye confuses Scheune with schone

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Scheune is [ˈʃɔɪ̯nə] while schone is [ˈʃoːnə]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Scheune is recorded at frequency rank #11,514, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɔɪ̯nə]. schone is at rank #25,753, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃoːnə].

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 37267, this pair ranks #1,594,567 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Scheune vs schone

Shared letters: cehns. Private to "Scheune": u. Private to "schone": o.

"Scheune" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV  ·  "schone" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Scheunecsheune · sccheune · scehune · schenue · scheunne · schheune · schuene · shceune
  • schonecshone · scchone · schhone · schnoe · schoen · scohne · shcone · sschone

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Scheune" for "schone" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Scheune" is a noun and "schone" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Scheune" or "schone" show up more?
"Scheune" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,514 in our German list, against #25,753 for "schone". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Scheune" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schone" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,594,567 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Scheune" and "schone" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schone vs Schopf". 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 #1,594,567 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