schnellstenvsschnellstensTell them apart

Quick tell: schnellsten is a adjective, schnellstens is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“schnellsten” is an adjective and “schnellstens” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,320
“schnellsten” frequency rank
#30,276
“schnellstens” frequency rank
41596
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schnellsten schnellstens
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Superlativs des Adjektivs schnell so schnell wie möglich

Where the eye mixes schnellsten and schnellstens

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. schnellsten runs 11 letters (CCCCVCCCCVC) against schnellstens's 12 (CCCCVCCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
schnellsten
12 ch
schnellstens

Look-alike desk: schnellsten vs schnellstens

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schnellsten is [ˈʃnɛlstn̩] while schnellstens is [ˈʃnɛlstn̩s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “schnellsten” sits inside “schnellstens”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schnellsten is recorded at frequency rank #11,320, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃnɛlstn̩]. schnellstens is at rank #30,276, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈʃnɛlstn̩s].

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 41596, this pair ranks #1,474,727 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schnellsten vs schnellstens

Shared letters: cehlnst. Private to "schnellsten": -. Private to "schnellstens": -.

"schnellsten" · 11 letters · shape CCCCVCCCCVC  ·  "schnellstens" · 12 letters · shape CCCCVCCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schnellstencshnellsten · scchnellsten · schenllsten · schhnellsten · schnellsetn · schnellssten · schnellstenn · schnellstne
  • schnellstenscshnellstens · scchnellstens · schenllstens · schhnellstens · schnellsetns · schnellsstens · schnellstenns · schnellstenss

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "schnellsten" and "schnellstens" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schnellsten" is an adjective and "schnellstens" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "schnellsten" or "schnellstens" show up more?
"schnellsten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,320 in our German list, against #30,276 for "schnellstens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schnellsten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schnellstens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,474,727 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schnellsten" and "schnellstens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schnellste vs schnellstens". 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 #1,474,727 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