Which to use
“schreiben” is a verb and “Schreibens” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #481
- “schreiben” frequency rank
- #26,159
- “Schreibens” frequency rank
- 26640
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schreiben | Schreibens |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Wörter, Sätze oder Zahlen in Form von Zeichen festhalten | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Schreiben |
Where the eye mixes schreiben and Schreibens
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. schreiben runs 9 letters (CCCCVVCVC) against Schreibens's 10 (CCCCVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: schreiben vs Schreibens
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schreiben is [ˈʃʁaɪ̯bn̩] while Schreibens is [ˈʃʁaɪ̯bn̩s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “schreiben” 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 26640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schreiben is recorded at frequency rank #481, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʁaɪ̯bn̩]. 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 26640, this pair ranks #1,814,847 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of schreiben vs Schreibens
Shared letters: bcehinrs. Private to "schreiben": -. Private to "Schreibens": -.
"schreiben" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVVCVC · "Schreibens" · 10 letters · shape CCCCVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- schreiben ← cshreiben · scchreiben · scheriben · schhreiben · schrebien · schreibben · schreibenn · schreibne
- Schreibens ← cshreibens · scchreibens · scheribens · schhreibens · schrebiens · schreibbens · schreibenns · schreibenss
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "schreiben" and "Schreibens" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "schreiben" or "Schreibens"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "schreiben" and "Schreibens" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "schreiben" 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 #1,814,847 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schreiben" 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 #1,814,847 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.