schontvssehntWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,616
“schont” frequency rank
#22,888
“sehnt” frequency rank
59504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schont sehnt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schonen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sehnen

Where the eye mixes schont and sehnt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
schont
5 ch
sehnt

Look-alike desk: schont vs sehnt

A purely visual mix-up. schont ([ʃoːnt]) and sehnt ([zeːnt]) 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 59504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schont is recorded at frequency rank #36,616, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃoːnt]. sehnt is at rank #22,888, tagged as averb, pronounced [zeːnt].

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 59504, this pair ranks #822,089 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schont vs sehnt

Shared letters: hnst. Private to "schont": co. Private to "sehnt": e.

"schont" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "sehnt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schontcshont · scchont · schhont · schnot · schonnt · schontt · schotn · scohnt
  • sehnteshnt · sehhnt · sehnnt · sehntt · sehtn · senht · shent · ssehnt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schont" for "sehnt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃoːnt] versus [zeːnt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "schont" vs "sehnt" - which ranks higher?
"sehnt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,888 in our German list, against #36,616 for "schont". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schont" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sehnt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #822,089 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schont" and "sehnt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schont vs schütt". 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 #822,089 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