SchlichevsschlichteWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#43,470
“Schliche” frequency rank
#16,275
“schlichte” frequency rank
59745
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schliche schlichte
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Schlich 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schlichten

Where the eye mixes Schliche and schlichte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Schliche
9 ch
schlichte

Why the eye confuses Schliche with schlichte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schliche is [ˈʃlɪçə] while schlichte is [ˈʃlɪçtə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schliche is recorded at frequency rank #43,470, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃlɪçə]. schlichte is at rank #16,275, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃlɪçtə].

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 59745, this pair ranks #812,987 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schliche vs schlichte

Shared letters: cehils. Private to "Schliche": -. Private to "schlichte": t.

"Schliche" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV  ·  "schlichte" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schlichecshliche · scchliche · schhliche · schilche · schlcihe · schlicche · schliceh · schlichhe
  • schlichtecshlichte · scchlichte · schhlichte · schilchte · schlcihte · schlicchte · schlichet · schlichhte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schliche" and "schlichte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schliche" is a noun and "schlichte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Schliche" or "schlichte"?
"schlichte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,275 in our German list, against #43,470 for "Schliche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schlichte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #812,987 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schliche" and "schlichte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schliche vs schlucke". 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 #812,987 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