SchlammvsschrammWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#13,229
“Schlamm” frequency rank
#19,378
“schramm” frequency rank
32607
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schlamm schramm
Definition mit Wasser vermischte Erde, Morast 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schrammen

Where the eye mixes Schlamm and schramm

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Schlamm and schramm follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Schlamm
7 ch
schramm

Visual trap between Schlamm and schramm

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schlamm is [ʃlam] while schramm is [ʃʁam]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “Schlamm” becomes r in “schramm”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schlamm is recorded at frequency rank #13,229, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃlam]. schramm is at rank #19,378, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃʁam].

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 32607, this pair ranks #1,704,000 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schlamm vs schramm

Shared letters: achms. Private to "Schlamm": l. Private to "schramm": r.

"Schlamm" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC  ·  "schramm" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schlammcshlamm · scchlamm · schalmm · schhlamm · schlam · schllamm · schlmam · sclhamm
  • schrammcshramm · scchramm · scharmm · schhramm · schram · schrmam · schrramm · scrhamm

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schlamm" and "schramm" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schlamm" is a noun and "schramm" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Schlamm" or "schramm" show up more?
"Schlamm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,229 in our German list, against #19,378 for "schramm". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schlamm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schramm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,704,000 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schlamm" and "schramm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schläfe vs Schlamm". 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 #1,704,000 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