SchollevsSchwelleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,452
“Scholle” frequency rank
#13,236
“Schwelle” frequency rank
54688
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Scholle Schwelle
Definition in allen Meeren verbreiteter, oft als Speisefisch genutzter Plattfisch mit stark abgeplattetem ovalem Körper, der an der Oberseite olivgrün bis dunkelbraun gefleckt und an der Unterseite weiß ist unterer Querbalken eines Türrahmens, über den man zum Eintreten geht

Where the eye mixes Scholle and Schwelle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Scholle runs 7 letters (CCCVCCV) against Schwelle's 8 (CCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Scholle
8 ch
Schwelle

Visual trap between Scholle and Schwelle

A purely visual mix-up. Scholle ([ˈʃɔlə]) and Schwelle ([ˈʃvɛlə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54688, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Scholle is recorded at frequency rank #41,452, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɔlə]. Schwelle is at rank #13,236, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃvɛlə].

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 54688, this pair ranks #1,009,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Scholle vs Schwelle

Shared letters: cehls. Private to "Scholle": o. Private to "Schwelle": w.

"Scholle" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "Schwelle" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Scholle ← csholle · sccholle · schholle · schlole · schole · scholel · scohlle · shcolle
  • Schwelle ← cshwelle · scchwelle · schewlle · schhwelle · schwele · schwelel · schwlele · schwwelle

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Scholle" for "Schwelle" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃɔlə] versus [ˈʃvɛlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Scholle" or "Schwelle" show up more?
"Schwelle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,236 in our German list, against #41,452 for "Scholle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Scholle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schwelle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,009,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Scholle" and "Schwelle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Scholle vs schrille". 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 #1,009,061 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