SchreinvsschrienWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#22,490
“Schrein” frequency rank
#46,261
“schrien” frequency rank
68751
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schrein schrien
Definition ein verschließbarer, meist kastenförmiger oder schrankähnlicher Behälter zur Aufbewahrung von kostbaren Dingen wie Reliquien oder Ähnlichem 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schreien

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Schrein and schrien apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Schrein
7 ch
schrien

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schrein is [ʃʁaɪ̯n] while schrien is [ʃʁiːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ei ↔ ie) - a transposition the eye reads straight past, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68751, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schrein is recorded at frequency rank #22,490, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃʁaɪ̯n]. schrien is at rank #46,261, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃʁiːn].

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 68751, this pair ranks #497,994 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Schrein vs schrien

Shared letters: cehinrs. Private to "Schrein": -. Private to "schrien": -.

"Schrein" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVVC  ·  "schrien" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schreincshrein · scchrein · scherin · schhrein · schreinn · schreni · schrrein · scrhein
  • schriencshrien · scchrien · schhrien · schiren · schrienn · schrine · schrrien · scrhien

Frequency comparison

Schrein#22,490
schrien#46,261

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schrein" and "schrien" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schrein" is a noun and "schrien" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Schrein" or "schrien"?
"Schrein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,490 in our German list, against #46,261 for "schrien". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Schrein vs schrien

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Schrein”; for a verb, it's “schrien”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Schrein” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list