schonevsSühneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: schone is a verb, Sühne is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“schone” is a verb and “Sühne” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,753
“schone” frequency rank
#41,488
“Sühne” frequency rank
67241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schone Sühne
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schonen eine Wiedergutmachung, eine Genugtuung, eine Leistung für ein begangenes Unrecht oder ein Verschulden

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set schone and Sühne apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
schone
5 ch
Sühne

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schone is [ˈʃoːnə] while Sühne is [ˈzyːnə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schone is recorded at frequency rank #25,753, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃoːnə]. Sühne is at rank #41,488, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzyːnə].

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 67241, this pair ranks #546,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schone vs Sühne

Shared letters: ehns. Private to "schone": co. Private to "Sühne": ü.

"schone" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV  ·  "Sühne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schonecshone · scchone · schhone · schnoe · schoen · scohne · shcone · sschone

Frequency comparison

schone#25,753
Sühne#41,488

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schone" and "Sühne" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schone" is a verb and "Sühne" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "schone" or "Sühne"?
"schone" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,753 in our German list, against #41,488 for "Sühne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering schone vs Sühne

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “schone”; for a noun, it's “Sühne”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “schone” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list