schiebevsschriebWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,111
“schiebe” frequency rank
#1,710
“schrieb” frequency rank
25821
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schiebe schrieb
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schieben 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schreiben

Where the eye mixes schiebe and schrieb

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

7 ch
schiebe
7 ch
schrieb

Why the eye confuses schiebe with schrieb

A purely visual mix-up. schiebe ([ˈʃiːbə]) and schrieb ([ʃʁiːp]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schiebe is recorded at frequency rank #24,111, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃiːbə]. schrieb is at rank #1,710, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃʁiːp].

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 25821, this pair ranks #1,827,470 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schiebe vs schrieb

Shared letters: bcehis. Private to "schiebe": -. Private to "schrieb": r.

"schiebe" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV  ·  "schrieb" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schiebecshiebe · scchiebe · schhiebe · schibee · schiebbe · schieeb · scihebe · shciebe
  • schriebcshrieb · scchrieb · schhrieb · schireb · schribe · schriebb · schrrieb · scrhieb

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schiebe" for "schrieb" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃiːbə] versus [ʃʁiːp]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "schiebe" or "schrieb" show up more?
"schrieb" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,710 in our German list, against #24,111 for "schiebe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schiebe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schrieb" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,827,470 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schiebe" and "schrieb" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schiebe 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

Confusion rank #1,827,470 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