Which to use
“Schuld” is a noun and “schulde” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #999
- “Schuld” frequency rank
- #44,206
- “schulde” frequency rank
- 45205
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schuld | schulde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Verbindlichkeit, Pflicht, etwas zu tun oder zu unterlassen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schulden |
Where the eye mixes Schuld and schulde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Schuld with schulde
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schuld is [ʃʊlt] while schulde is [ˈʃʊldə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Schuld” sits inside “schulde”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schuld is recorded at frequency rank #999, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃʊlt]. schulde is at rank #44,206, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʊldə].
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 45205, this pair ranks #1,360,911 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Schuld vs schulde
Shared letters: cdhlsu. Private to "Schuld": -. Private to "schulde": e.
"Schuld" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC · "schulde" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Schuld" and "schulde" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Schuld" or "schulde" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schuld" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schulde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,360,911 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schuld" and "schulde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schulde vs Schurke". 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 #1,360,911 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.