SchneevsSchneideWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Schnee” and “Schneide” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,917
“Schnee” frequency rank
#13,936
“Schneide” frequency rank
16853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schnee Schneide
Definition Niederschlag in Form von Eiskristallen die schneidende Kante eines Werkzeugs (Messer, Schere und so weiter) oder einer Waffe

Where the eye mixes Schnee and Schneide

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Schnee
8 ch
Schneide

Look-alike desk: Schnee vs Schneide

A purely visual mix-up. Schnee ([ʃneː]) and Schneide ([ˈʃnaɪ̯də]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schnee is recorded at frequency rank #2,917, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃneː]. Schneide is at rank #13,936, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃnaɪ̯də].

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 16853, this pair ranks #1,932,457 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schnee vs Schneide

Shared letters: cehns. Private to "Schnee": -. Private to "Schneide": di.

"Schnee" · 6 letters · shape CCCCVV  ·  "Schneide" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schneecshnee · scchnee · schene · schhnee · schne · schnnee · scnhee · shcnee
  • Schneidecshneide · scchneide · schenide · schhneide · schnedie · schneidde · schneied · schniede

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schnee" for "Schneide" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃneː] versus [ˈʃnaɪ̯də]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Schnee" vs "Schneide" - which ranks higher?
"Schnee" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,917 in our German list, against #13,936 for "Schneide". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schnee" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schneide" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,932,457 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schnee" and "Schneide" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schneide vs schneien". 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 #1,932,457 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