Which to use
“schläft” is a verb and “schlau” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,531
- “schläft” frequency rank
- #5,301
- “schlau” frequency rank
- 10832
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schläft | schlau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schlafen | um Wege wissend, seine Ziele (dennoch) zu erreichen |
Where the eye mixes schläft and schlau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. schläft runs 7 letters (CCCCVCC) against schlau's 6 (CCCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses schläft with schlau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schläft is [ʃlɛːft] while schlau is [ʃlaʊ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schläft is recorded at frequency rank #5,531, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃlɛːft]. schlau is at rank #5,301, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃlaʊ̯].
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 10832, this pair ranks #1,973,090 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of schläft vs schlau
Shared letters: chls. Private to "schläft": ftä. Private to "schlau": au.
"schläft" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC · "schlau" · 6 letters · shape CCCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- schlau ← cshlau · scchlau · schalu · schhlau · schllau · schlua · sclhau · shclau
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "schläft" and "schlau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "schläft" or "schlau"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "schläft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schlau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,973,090 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schläft" and "schlau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schläft vs schleift". 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 #1,973,090 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.