SchuhvsSchwurTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,350
“Schuh” frequency rank
#29,776
“Schwur” frequency rank
36126
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schuh Schwur
Definition äußere Fußbekleidung verbindliche Festlegung auf etwas

Where the eye mixes Schuh and Schwur

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Schuh
6 ch
Schwur

Look-alike desk: Schuh vs Schwur

A purely visual mix-up. Schuh ([ʃuː]) and Schwur ([ʃvuːɐ̯]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schuh is recorded at frequency rank #6,350, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃuː]. Schwur is at rank #29,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃvuːɐ̯].

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 36126, this pair ranks #1,623,285 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schuh vs Schwur

Shared letters: chsu. Private to "Schuh": -. Private to "Schwur": rw.

"Schuh" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC  ·  "Schwur" · 6 letters · shape CCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schuhcshuh · scchuh · schhu · schhuh · schuhh · scuhh · shcuh · sschuh
  • Schwurcshwur · scchwur · schhwur · schuwr · schwru · schwurr · schwwur · scwhur

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schuh" for "Schwur" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃuː] versus [ʃvuːɐ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Schuh" or "Schwur" show up more?
"Schuh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,350 in our German list, against #29,776 for "Schwur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Schuh" and "Schwur" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schuh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schwur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,623,285 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schuh" and "Schwur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schwund vs Schwur". 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 #1,623,285 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