SchuhevsschultTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#2,039
“Schuhe” frequency rank
#33,280
“schult” frequency rank
35319
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schuhe schult
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Schuh 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schulen

Where the eye mixes Schuhe and schult

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Schuhe (CCCVCV) and schult (CCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Schuhe
6 ch
schult

Visual trap between Schuhe and schult

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schuhe is [ˈʃuːə] while schult is [ʃuːlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schuhe is recorded at frequency rank #2,039, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃuːə]. schult is at rank #33,280, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃuːlt].

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 35319, this pair ranks #1,642,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schuhe vs schult

Shared letters: chsu. Private to "Schuhe": e. Private to "schult": lt.

"Schuhe" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV  ·  "schult" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schuhe ← cshuhe · scchuhe · schhue · schhuhe · schueh · schuhhe · scuhhe · shcuhe
  • schult ← cshult · scchult · schhult · schlut · schullt · schultt · schutl · scuhlt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schuhe" and "schult" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Schuhe" is a noun and "schult" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Schuhe" or "schult" show up more?
"Schuhe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,039 in our German list, against #33,280 for "schult". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schuhe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schult" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,642,810 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schuhe" and "schult" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schult vs shut". 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 #1,642,810 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