schrienvsschürenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#46,261
“schrien” frequency rank
#22,135
“schüren” frequency rank
68396
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schrien schüren
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schreien Feuer durch Herumstochern anfachen

Where the eye mixes schrien and schüren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. schrien (CCCCVVC) and schüren (CCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
schrien
7 ch
schüren

Look-alike desk: schrien vs schüren

A purely visual mix-up. schrien ([ʃʁiːn]) and schüren ([ˈʃyːʁən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schrien is recorded at frequency rank #46,261, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃʁiːn]. schüren is at rank #22,135, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃyːʁən].

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 68396, this pair ranks #509,126 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of schrien vs schüren

Shared letters: cehnrs. Private to "schrien": i. Private to "schüren": ü.

"schrien" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVVC  ·  "schüren" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schrien ← cshrien · scchrien · schhrien · schiren · schrienn · schrine · schrrien · scrhien

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schrien" for "schüren" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃʁiːn] versus [ˈʃyːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schrien" or "schüren"?
"schüren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,135 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.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schrien" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schüren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #509,126 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schrien" and "schüren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schreier vs schrien". 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 #509,126 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