schiefevsschiereConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,268
“schiefe” frequency rank
#45,567
“schiere” frequency rank
78835
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schiefe schiere
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schief Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schier

Where the eye mixes schiefe and schiere

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. schiefe and schiere follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
schiefe
7 ch
schiere

Why the eye confuses schiefe with schiere

A purely visual mix-up. schiefe ([ˈʃiːfə]) and schiere ([ˈʃiːʁə]) 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 a single letter - f in “schiefe” becomes r in “schiere”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78835, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schiefe is recorded at frequency rank #33,268, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃiːfə]. schiere is at rank #45,567, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃiːʁə].

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 78835, this pair ranks #229,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of schiefe vs schiere

Shared letters: cehis. Private to "schiefe": f. Private to "schiere": r.

"schiefe" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV  ·  "schiere" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schiefe ← cshiefe · scchiefe · scheife · schhiefe · schieef · schieffe · schifee · scihefe
  • schiere ← cshiere · scchiere · scheire · schhiere · schieer · schierre · schiree · shciere

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schiefe" and "schiere" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃiːfə] versus [ˈʃiːʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "schiefe" vs "schiere" - which ranks higher?
"schiefe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,268 in our German list, against #45,567 for "schiere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schiefe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schiere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #229,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schiefe" and "schiere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schiere 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 #229,513 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