schönvsschönesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#282
“schön” frequency rank
#2,040
“schönes” frequency rank
2322
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schön schönes
Definition ästhetisch, eine angenehme Wirkung auf die Sinne habend: zum Beispiel ein gutes Aussehen habend, sich gut anhörend Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schön

Where the eye mixes schön and schönes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
schön
7 ch
schönes

Why the eye confuses schön with schönes

A purely visual mix-up. schön ([ʃøːn]) and schönes ([ˈʃøːnəs]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “schön” sits inside “schönes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2322, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schön is recorded at frequency rank #282, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃøːn]. schönes is at rank #2,040, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃøːnəs].

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 2322, this pair ranks #2,002,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schön vs schönes

Shared letters: chnsö. Private to "schön": -. Private to "schönes": e.

"schön" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC  ·  "schönes" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "schön" and "schönes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃøːn] versus [ˈʃøːnəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "schön" or "schönes" show up more?
"schön" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #282 in our German list, against #2,040 for "schönes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schön" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schönes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,002,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schön" and "schönes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schönes vs shoes". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #2,002,611 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