schönstevsschönstenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,932
“schönste” frequency rank
#3,485
“schönsten” frequency rank
8417
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schönste schönsten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Superlativ der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schön Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs schön

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set schönste and schönsten apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
schönste
9 ch
schönsten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. schönste ([ˈʃøːnstə]) and schönsten ([ˈʃøːnstn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “schönste” sits inside “schönsten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schönste is recorded at frequency rank #4,932, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃøːnstə]. schönsten is at rank #3,485, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃøːnstn̩].

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 8417, this pair ranks #1,984,384 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schönste vs schönsten

Shared letters: cehnstö. Private to "schönste": -. Private to "schönsten": -.

"schönste" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCCV  ·  "schönsten" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schönste" and "schönsten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃøːnstə] versus [ˈʃøːnstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schönste" or "schönsten"?
"schönsten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,485 in our German list, against #4,932 for "schönste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list