schienvsschobenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,148
“schien” frequency rank
#44,203
“schoben” frequency rank
47351
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schien schoben
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs scheinen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schieben

Where the eye mixes schien and schoben

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

6 ch
schien
7 ch
schoben

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. schien ([ʃiːn]) and schoben ([ˈʃoːbn̩]) 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 47351, 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]. schoben is at rank #44,203, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃoːbn̩].

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 47351, this pair ranks #1,287,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schien vs schoben

Shared letters: cehns. Private to "schien": i. Private to "schoben": bo.

"schien" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC  ·  "schoben" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schiencshien · scchien · schhien · schienn · schine · scihen · shcien · sschien
  • schobencshoben · scchoben · schboen · schhoben · schobben · schobenn · schobne · schoebn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schien" and "schoben" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʃiːn] versus [ˈʃoːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schien" or "schoben"?
"schien" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,148 in our German list, against #44,203 for "schoben". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "schien" and "schoben". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schien" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schoben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,287,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schien" and "schoben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schoben vs schrien". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list