schildernvsschildertTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,162
“schildern” frequency rank
#8,938
“schildert” frequency rank
21100
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schildern schildert
Definition etwas anschaulich und detailreich erzählen, beschreiben 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schildern

Where the eye mixes schildern and schildert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. schildern and schildert follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
schildern
9 ch
schildert

Why the eye confuses schildern with schildert

A purely visual mix-up. schildern ([ˈʃɪldɐn]) and schildert ([ˈʃɪldɐt]) 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 a single letter - n in “schildern” becomes t in “schildert”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schildern is recorded at frequency rank #12,162, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɪldɐn]. schildert is at rank #8,938, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃɪldɐt].

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 21100, this pair ranks #1,890,164 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schildern vs schildert

Shared letters: cdehilrs. Private to "schildern": n. Private to "schildert": t.

"schildern" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCVCC  ·  "schildert" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schilderncshildern · scchildern · schhildern · schidlern · schilddern · schildenr · schildernn · schilderrn
  • schildertcshildert · scchildert · schhildert · schidlert · schilddert · schilderrt · schildertt · schildetr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schildern" for "schildert" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɪldɐn] versus [ˈʃɪldɐt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schildern" or "schildert"?
"schildert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,938 in our German list, against #12,162 for "schildern". 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 "schildern" and "schildert" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schildern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schildert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,890,164 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schildern" and "schildert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schildert vs schimmert". 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 #1,890,164 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