SchuldenvsSchulwegWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,150
“Schulden” frequency rank
#33,805
“Schulweg” frequency rank
36955
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schulden Schulweg
Definition die gesamten Verpflichtungen (Passiva) einer Person oder einer Firma, die dem vorhandenen Vermögen (Aktiva) gegenüber stehen Weg eines Schülers zur Schule

Where the eye mixes Schulden and Schulweg

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Schulden and Schulweg follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
Schulden
8 ch
Schulweg

Why the eye confuses Schulden with Schulweg

A purely visual mix-up. Schulden ([ˈʃʊldn̩]) and Schulweg ([ˈʃuːlˌveːk]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36955, 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]. 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 36955, this pair ranks #1,602,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schulden vs Schulweg

Shared letters: cehlsu. Private to "Schulden": dn. Private to "Schulweg": gw.

"Schulden" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "Schulweg" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schulden ← cshulden · scchulden · schhulden · schluden · schudlen · schuldden · schuldenn · schuldne
  • Schulweg ← cshulweg · scchulweg · schhulweg · schluweg · schulewg · schullweg · schulwegg · schulwge

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Schulden" and "Schulweg" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃʊldn̩] versus [ˈʃuːlˌveːk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Schulden" or "Schulweg" show up more?
"Schulden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,150 in our German list, against #33,805 for "Schulweg". 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 "Schulden" 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 #1,602,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schulden" and "Schulweg" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schulde vs Schulweg". 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 #1,602,439 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