schuftenvsschüttenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#32,256
“schuften” frequency rank
#30,759
“schütten” frequency rank
63015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schuften schütten
Definition hart/schwer arbeiten etwas durch starkes Kippen aus einem Gefäß entfernen

Where the eye mixes schuften and schütten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. schuften and schütten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
schuften
8 ch
schütten

Visual trap between schuften and schütten

A purely visual mix-up. schuften ([ˈʃʊftn̩]) and schütten ([ˈʃʏtn̩]) 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 63015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schuften is recorded at frequency rank #32,256, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʊftn̩]. schütten is at rank #30,759, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʏtn̩].

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 63015, this pair ranks #691,859 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schuften vs schütten

Shared letters: cehnst. Private to "schuften": fu. Private to "schütten": ü.

"schuften" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "schütten" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schuften ← cshuften · scchuften · schfuten · schhuften · schufetn · schufften · schuftenn · schuftne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schuften" for "schütten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃʊftn̩] versus [ˈʃʏtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "schuften" vs "schütten" - which ranks higher?
"schütten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,759 in our German list, against #32,256 for "schuften". 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 "schuften" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schütten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #691,859 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schuften" and "schütten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schütt vs schütten". 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 #691,859 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