Which to use
“schien” is a verb and “schiere” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,148
- “schien” frequency rank
- #45,567
- “schiere” frequency rank
- 48715
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schien | schiere |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs scheinen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schier |
Where the eye mixes schien and schiere
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses schien with schiere
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schien is [ʃiːn] while schiere is [ˈʃiːʁə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48715, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schien is recorded at frequency rank #3,148, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃiːn]. 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 48715, this pair ranks #1,238,340 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of schien vs schiere
Shared letters: cehis. Private to "schien": n. Private to "schiere": r.
"schien" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC · "schiere" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "schien" for "schiere" ever safe?
Frequency check: "schien" vs "schiere" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "schien" 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 #1,238,340 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schien" 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 #1,238,340 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.