schiebenvsschienTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,529
“schieben” frequency rank
#3,148
“schien” frequency rank
8677
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schieben schien
Definition einen Gegenstand durch mechanischen Druck bewegen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs scheinen

Where the eye mixes schieben and schien

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

8 ch
schieben
6 ch
schien

Visual trap between schieben and schien

A purely visual mix-up. schieben ([ˈʃiːbn̩]) and schien ([ʃiːn]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schieben is recorded at frequency rank #5,529, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃiːbn̩]. schien is at rank #3,148, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃiːn].

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 8677, this pair ranks #1,983,324 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schieben vs schien

Shared letters: cehins. Private to "schieben": b. Private to "schien": -.

"schieben" · 8 letters · shape CCCVVCVC  ·  "schien" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schiebencshieben · scchieben · schhieben · schibeen · schiebben · schiebenn · schiebne · schieebn
  • schiencshien · scchien · schhien · schienn · schine · scihen · shcien · sschien

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schieben" for "schien" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃiːbn̩] versus [ʃiːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schieben" or "schien"?
"schien" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,148 in our German list, against #5,529 for "schieben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,983,324 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schieben" and "schien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schieben vs schlieren". 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 #1,983,324 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