schielevsschienWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#38,389
“schiele” frequency rank
#3,148
“schien” frequency rank
41537
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schiele schien
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schielen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs scheinen

Where the eye mixes schiele and schien

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

7 ch
schiele
6 ch
schien

Why the eye confuses schiele with schien

A purely visual mix-up. schiele ([ˈʃiːlə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41537, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schiele is recorded at frequency rank #38,389, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃiːlə]. 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 41537, this pair ranks #1,476,454 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schiele vs schien

Shared letters: cehis. Private to "schiele": l. Private to "schien": n.

"schiele" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV  ·  "schien" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schielecshiele · scchiele · scheile · schhiele · schieel · schielle · schilee · scihele
  • schiencshien · scchien · schhien · schienn · schine · scihen · shcien · sschien

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schiele" for "schien" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃiːlə] versus [ʃiːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "schiele" vs "schien" - which ranks higher?
"schien" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,148 in our German list, against #38,389 for "schiele". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schiele" 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 #1,476,454 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schiele" and "schien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schiele 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 #1,476,454 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