SchildervsSchülerTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,558
“Schilder” frequency rank
#910
“Schüler” frequency rank
11468
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schilder Schüler
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Schild Person, die eine Schule besucht

Where the eye mixes Schilder and Schüler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Schilder runs 8 letters (CCCVCCVC) against Schüler's 7 (CCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Schilder
7 ch
Schüler

Look-alike desk: Schilder vs Schüler

A purely visual mix-up. Schilder ([ˈʃɪldɐ]) and Schüler ([ˈʃyːlɐ]) 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 11468, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schilder is recorded at frequency rank #10,558, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɪldɐ]. Schüler is at rank #910, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃyːlɐ].

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 11468, this pair ranks #1,969,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schilder vs Schüler

Shared letters: cehlrs. Private to "Schilder": di. Private to "Schüler": ü.

"Schilder" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "Schüler" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schildercshilder · scchilder · schhilder · schidler · schildder · schilderr · schildre · schiledr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schilder" for "Schüler" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɪldɐ] versus [ˈʃyːlɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Schilder" or "Schüler" show up more?
"Schüler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #910 in our German list, against #10,558 for "Schilder". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schilder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schüler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,969,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schilder" and "Schüler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schauder vs Schilder". 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 #1,969,725 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