schönstevsschönsterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,932
“schönste” frequency rank
#39,621
“schönster” frequency rank
44553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schönste schönster
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Superlativ der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schön Nominativ Singular Maskulinum Superlativ der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schön

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
schönste
9 ch
schönster

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. schönste ([ˈʃøːnstə]) and schönster ([ˈʃøːnstɐ]) 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 “schönster”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44553, 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]. schönster is at rank #39,621, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃøːnstɐ].

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 44553, this pair ranks #1,382,468 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schönste vs schönster

Shared letters: cehnstö. Private to "schönste": -. Private to "schönster": r.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schönste" and "schönster" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃøːnstə] versus [ˈʃøːnstɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schönste" or "schönster"?
"schönste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,932 in our German list, against #39,621 for "schönster". 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