schnellemvsschnellenTell them apart

Quick tell: schnellem is a adjective, schnellen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#33,276
“schnellem” frequency rank
#4,931
“schnellen” frequency rank
38207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schnellem schnellen
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schnell etwas kräftig beschleunigen und wegschleudern

Where the eye mixes schnellem and schnellen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. schnellem and schnellen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
schnellem
9 ch
schnellen

Look-alike desk: schnellem vs schnellen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schnellem is [ˈʃnɛləm] while schnellen is [ˈʃnɛlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “schnellem” becomes n in “schnellen”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schnellem is recorded at frequency rank #33,276, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃnɛləm]. schnellen is at rank #4,931, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃnɛlən].

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 38207, this pair ranks #1,570,039 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schnellem vs schnellen

Shared letters: cehlns. Private to "schnellem": m. Private to "schnellen": -.

"schnellem" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCVC  ·  "schnellen" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schnellemcshnellem · scchnellem · schenllem · schhnellem · schnelelm · schnelem · schnellemm · schnellme
  • schnellencshnellen · scchnellen · schenllen · schhnellen · schneleln · schnelen · schnellenn · schnellne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schnellem" for "schnellen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schnellem" is an adjective and "schnellen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "schnellem" vs "schnellen" - which ranks higher?
"schnellen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,931 in our German list, against #33,276 for "schnellem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schnellem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schnellen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,570,039 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schnellem" and "schnellen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schnellem vs Schnuller". 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 #1,570,039 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