schreibevsSchreibensWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#3,397
“schreibe” frequency rank
#26,159
“Schreibens” frequency rank
29556
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schreibe Schreibens
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schreiben Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Schreiben

Where the eye mixes schreibe and Schreibens

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. schreibe runs 8 letters (CCCCVVCV) against Schreibens's 10 (CCCCVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
schreibe
10 ch
Schreibens

Look-alike desk: schreibe vs Schreibens

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schreibe is [ˈʃʁaɪ̯bə] while Schreibens is [ˈʃʁaɪ̯bn̩s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “schreibe” sits inside “Schreibens”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schreibe is recorded at frequency rank #3,397, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʁaɪ̯bə]. Schreibens is at rank #26,159, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃʁaɪ̯bn̩s].

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 29556, this pair ranks #1,764,660 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schreibe vs Schreibens

Shared letters: bcehirs. Private to "schreibe": -. Private to "Schreibens": n.

"schreibe" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVVCV  ·  "Schreibens" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schreibecshreibe · scchreibe · scheribe · schhreibe · schrebie · schreibbe · schreieb · schriebe
  • Schreibenscshreibens · scchreibens · scheribens · schhreibens · schrebiens · schreibbens · schreibenns · schreibenss

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schreibe" for "Schreibens" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schreibe" is a verb and "Schreibens" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "schreibe" vs "Schreibens" - which ranks higher?
"schreibe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,397 in our German list, against #26,159 for "Schreibens". 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 "schreibe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schreibens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,764,660 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schreibe" and "Schreibens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schreibens vs Schweigens". 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 #1,764,660 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