Which to use
“Schulden” is a noun and “schuldigen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,150
- “Schulden” frequency rank
- #17,404
- “schuldigen” frequency rank
- 20554
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schulden | schuldigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die gesamten Verpflichtungen (Passiva) einer Person oder einer Firma, die dem vorhandenen Vermögen (Aktiva) gegenüber stehen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schuldig |
Where the eye mixes Schulden and schuldigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Schulden runs 8 letters (CCCVCCVC) against schuldigen's 10 (CCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Schulden with schuldigen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schulden is [ˈʃʊldn̩] while schuldigen is [ˈʃʊldɪɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schulden is recorded at frequency rank #3,150, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃʊldn̩]. schuldigen is at rank #17,404, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃʊldɪɡn̩].
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 20554, this pair ranks #1,896,351 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Schulden vs schuldigen
Shared letters: cdehlnsu. Private to "Schulden": -. Private to "schuldigen": gi.
"Schulden" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC · "schuldigen" · 10 letters · shape CCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Schulden ← cshulden · scchulden · schhulden · schluden · schudlen · schuldden · schuldenn · schuldne
- schuldigen ← cshuldigen · scchuldigen · schhuldigen · schludigen · schudligen · schulddigen · schuldgien · schuldiegn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Schulden" for "schuldigen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Schulden" or "schuldigen"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Schulden" and "schuldigen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schulden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schuldigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,896,351 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schulden" and "schuldigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schellen vs Schulden". 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 #1,896,351 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.