schnellerevsschnellsteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#17,718
“schnellere” frequency rank
#10,165
“schnellste” frequency rank
27883
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schnellere schnellste
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Komparativs des Adjektivs schnell Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs schnell

Where the eye mixes schnellere and schnellste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. schnellere (CCCCVCCVCV) and schnellste (CCCCVCCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
schnellere
10 ch
schnellste

Why the eye confuses schnellere with schnellste

A purely visual mix-up. schnellere ([ˈʃnɛləʁə]) and schnellste ([ˈʃnɛlstə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schnellere is recorded at frequency rank #17,718, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃnɛləʁə]. schnellste is at rank #10,165, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃnɛlstə].

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 27883, this pair ranks #1,794,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schnellere vs schnellste

Shared letters: cehlns. Private to "schnellere": r. Private to "schnellste": t.

"schnellere" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVCCVCV  ·  "schnellste" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVCCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schnellerecshnellere · scchnellere · schenllere · schhnellere · schnelelre · schnelere · schnelleer · schnellerre
  • schnellstecshnellste · scchnellste · schenllste · schhnellste · schnellset · schnellsste · schnellstte · schnelltse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schnellere" for "schnellste" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃnɛləʁə] versus [ˈʃnɛlstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "schnellere" vs "schnellste" - which ranks higher?
"schnellste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,165 in our German list, against #17,718 for "schnellere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schnellere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schnellste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,794,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schnellere" and "schnellste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schnellere 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 #1,794,253 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