schuldevsSchulwegTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#44,206
“schulde” frequency rank
#33,805
“Schulweg” frequency rank
78011
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schulde Schulweg
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schulden Weg eines Schülers zur Schule

Where the eye mixes schulde and Schulweg

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
schulde
8 ch
Schulweg

Why the eye confuses schulde with Schulweg

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schulde is [ˈʃʊldə] while Schulweg is [ˈʃuːlˌveːk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78011, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schulde is recorded at frequency rank #44,206, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʊldə]. Schulweg is at rank #33,805, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃuːlˌveːk].

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 78011, this pair ranks #247,794 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of schulde vs Schulweg

Shared letters: cehlsu. Private to "schulde": d. Private to "Schulweg": gw.

"schulde" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "Schulweg" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schuldecshulde · scchulde · schhulde · schlude · schudle · schuldde · schuled · schullde
  • Schulwegcshulweg · scchulweg · schhulweg · schluweg · schulewg · schullweg · schulwegg · schulwge

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schulde" for "Schulweg" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schulde" is a verb and "Schulweg" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "schulde" or "Schulweg" show up more?
"Schulweg" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,805 in our German list, against #44,206 for "schulde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schulde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schulweg" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #247,794 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schulde" and "Schulweg" 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 #247,794 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