Which to use
“schmale” and “schmales” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,358
- “schmale” frequency rank
- #39,617
- “schmales” frequency rank
- 49975
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schmale | schmales |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schmal | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schmal |
Where the eye mixes schmale and schmales
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses schmale with schmales
A purely visual mix-up. schmale ([ˈʃmaːlə]) and schmales ([ˈʃmaːləs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “schmale” sits inside “schmales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49975, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schmale is recorded at frequency rank #10,358, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃmaːlə]. schmales is at rank #39,617, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃmaːləs].
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 49975, this pair ranks #1,191,347 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of schmale vs schmales
Shared letters: acehlms. Private to "schmale": -. Private to "schmales": -.
"schmale" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCV · "schmales" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "schmale" for "schmales" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "schmale" or "schmales" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "schmale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schmales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,191,347 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schmale" and "schmales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schmales vs schwules". 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 #1,191,347 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.