SchilfvsschultWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#38,993
“Schilf” frequency rank
#33,280
“schult” frequency rank
72273
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schilf schult
Definition dichtes Sumpfgras, das an den Ufern von Seen und Teichen wächst und bis zu vier Meter hoch wird 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schulen

Where the eye mixes Schilf and schult

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Schilf and schult follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Schilf
6 ch
schult

Look-alike desk: Schilf vs schult

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schilf is [ʃɪlf] 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 72273, 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]. 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 72273, this pair ranks #392,928 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Schilf vs schult

Shared letters: chls. Private to "Schilf": fi. Private to "schult": tu.

"Schilf" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "schult" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schilf ← cshilf · scchilf · schhilf · schifl · schillf · scihlf · shcilf · sschilf
  • schult ← cshult · scchult · schhult · schlut · schullt · schultt · schutl · scuhlt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schilf" and "schult" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schilf" is a noun and "schult" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Schilf" or "schult" show up more?
"schult" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,280 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.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Schilf" and "schult" 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 "schult" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #392,928 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schilf" and "schult" 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 #392,928 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