SchilfvsschollTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#38,993
“Schilf” frequency rank
#12,379
“scholl” frequency rank
51372
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schilf scholl
Definition dichtes Sumpfgras, das an den Ufern von Seen und Teichen wächst und bis zu vier Meter hoch wird 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schallen

Where the eye mixes Schilf and scholl

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

6 ch
Schilf
6 ch
scholl

Look-alike desk: Schilf vs scholl

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schilf is [ʃɪlf] while scholl is [ʃɔl]. 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 51372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schilf is recorded at frequency rank #38,993, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃɪlf]. scholl is at rank #12,379, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃɔl].

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 51372, this pair ranks #1,138,058 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schilf vs scholl

Shared letters: chls. Private to "Schilf": fi. Private to "scholl": o.

"Schilf" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "scholl" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schilfcshilf · scchilf · schhilf · schifl · schillf · scihlf · shcilf · sschilf
  • schollcsholl · sccholl · schholl · schlol · scohll · shcoll · sscholl

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schilf" and "scholl" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schilf" is a noun and "scholl" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Schilf" or "scholl"?
"scholl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,379 in our German list, against #38,993 for "Schilf". 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 "Schilf" and "scholl" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schilf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "scholl" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,138,058 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schilf" and "scholl" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schalk vs Schilf". 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 #1,138,058 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