schnellvsschnelleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#290
“schnell” frequency rank
#3,072
“schnelle” frequency rank
3362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schnell schnelle
Definition eine hohe Geschwindigkeit habend, das Gegenteil von langsam Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schnell

Where the eye mixes schnell and schnelle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
schnell
8 ch
schnelle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. schnell ([ʃnɛl]) and schnelle ([ˈʃnɛlə]) 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) - “schnell” sits inside “schnelle”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schnell is recorded at frequency rank #290, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃnɛl]. schnelle is at rank #3,072, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃnɛlə].

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 3362, this pair ranks #2,000,379 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schnell vs schnelle

Shared letters: cehlns. Private to "schnell": -. Private to "schnelle": -.

"schnell" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC  ·  "schnelle" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schnellcshnell · scchnell · schenll · schhnell · schnel · schnlel · schnnell · scnhell
  • schnellecshnelle · scchnelle · schenlle · schhnelle · schnele · schnelel · schnlele · schnnelle

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schnell" and "schnelle" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʃnɛl] versus [ˈʃnɛlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schnell" or "schnelle"?
"schnell" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #290 in our German list, against #3,072 for "schnelle". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list