SchildvsschultWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Schild is a noun, schult is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Schild” is a noun and “schult” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,303
“Schild” frequency rank
#33,280
“schult” frequency rank
37583
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schild schult
Definition frühzeitliche/mittelalterliche Platte zum Schutz des eigenen Körpers im Kampf (oft versehen mit dem Erkennungswappen des jeweiligen Schildträgers; hieraus ist die Bedeutung des "Schild(e)s als Informationsträger" (siehe unten) entstanden) 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schulen

Where the eye mixes Schild and schult

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Schild
6 ch
schult

Look-alike desk: Schild vs schult

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schild is [ʃɪlt] while schult is [ʃuːlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37583, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schild is recorded at frequency rank #4,303, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃɪlt]. schult is at rank #33,280, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃuːlt].

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 37583, this pair ranks #1,586,394 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schild vs schult

Shared letters: chls. Private to "Schild": di. Private to "schult": tu.

"Schild" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "schult" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schildcshild · scchild · schhild · schidl · schildd · schilld · schlid · scihld
  • schultcshult · scchult · schhult · schlut · schullt · schultt · schutl · scuhlt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schild" for "schult" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schild" is a noun and "schult" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Schild" vs "schult" - which ranks higher?
"Schild" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,303 in our German list, against #33,280 for "schult". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Schild" and "schult" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schild" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schult" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,586,394 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schild" and "schult" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schult vs shut". 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 #1,586,394 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