schuldigenvsSchulungenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: schuldigen is a adjective, Schulungen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“schuldigen” is an adjective and “Schulungen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,404
“schuldigen” frequency rank
#20,403
“Schulungen” frequency rank
37807
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schuldigen Schulungen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schuldig Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Schulung

Where the eye mixes schuldigen and Schulungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. schuldigen (CCCVCCVCVC) and Schulungen (CCCVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
schuldigen
10 ch
Schulungen

Visual trap between schuldigen and Schulungen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schuldigen is [ˈʃʊldɪɡn̩] while Schulungen is [ˈʃuːlʊŋən]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schuldigen is recorded at frequency rank #17,404, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃʊldɪɡn̩]. Schulungen is at rank #20,403, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃuːlʊŋən].

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 37807, this pair ranks #1,580,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schuldigen vs Schulungen

Shared letters: ceghlnsu. Private to "schuldigen": di. Private to "Schulungen": -.

"schuldigen" · 10 letters · shape CCCVCCVCVC  ·  "Schulungen" · 10 letters · shape CCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schuldigen ← cshuldigen · scchuldigen · schhuldigen · schludigen · schudligen · schulddigen · schuldgien · schuldiegn
  • Schulungen ← cshulungen · scchulungen · schhulungen · schluungen · schullungen · schulnugen · schulugnen · schulunegn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schuldigen" for "Schulungen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schuldigen" is an adjective and "Schulungen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "schuldigen" or "Schulungen"?
"schuldigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,404 in our German list, against #20,403 for "Schulungen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schuldigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schulungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,580,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schuldigen" and "Schulungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schaltungen vs Schulungen". 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 #1,580,555 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