schlichtevsschlichtesWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: schlichte is a verb, schlichtes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#16,275
“schlichte” frequency rank
#41,448
“schlichtes” frequency rank
57723
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schlichte schlichtes
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schlichten Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schlicht

Where the eye mixes schlichte and schlichtes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
schlichte
10 ch
schlichtes

Visual trap between schlichte and schlichtes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schlichte is [ˈʃlɪçtə] while schlichtes is [ˈʃlɪçtəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “schlichte” sits inside “schlichtes”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57723, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schlichte is recorded at frequency rank #16,275, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃlɪçtə]. schlichtes is at rank #41,448, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃlɪçtəs].

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 57723, this pair ranks #890,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schlichte vs schlichtes

Shared letters: cehilst. Private to "schlichte": -. Private to "schlichtes": -.

"schlichte" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCCV  ·  "schlichtes" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schlichtecshlichte · scchlichte · schhlichte · schilchte · schlcihte · schlicchte · schlichet · schlichhte
  • schlichtescshlichtes · scchlichtes · schhlichtes · schilchtes · schlcihtes · schlicchtes · schlichets · schlichhtes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schlichte" and "schlichtes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schlichte" is a verb and "schlichtes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "schlichte" or "schlichtes" show up more?
"schlichte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,275 in our German list, against #41,448 for "schlichtes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "schlichte" and "schlichtes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schlichte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schlichtes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #890,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schlichte" and "schlichtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schliche vs schlichtes". 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 #890,200 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