SchulevsSohleTell them apart

Which to use

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

#397
“Schule” frequency rank
#16,833
“Sohle” frequency rank
17230
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schule Sohle
Definition öffentliche oder private Einrichtung/Anstalt für den Unterricht Fußsohle, Unterseite des Fußes

Where the eye mixes Schule and Sohle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Schule
5 ch
Sohle

Look-alike desk: Schule vs Sohle

A purely visual mix-up. Schule ([ˈʃuːlə]) and Sohle ([ˈzoːlə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17230, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schule is recorded at frequency rank #397, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃuːlə]. Sohle is at rank #16,833, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzoːlə].

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 17230, this pair ranks #1,929,223 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schule vs Sohle

Shared letters: ehls. Private to "Schule": cu. Private to "Sohle": o.

"Schule" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV  ·  "Sohle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schulecshule · scchule · schhule · schlue · schuel · schulle · scuhle · shcule
  • Sohleoshle · shole · sohel · sohhle · sohlle · solhe · ssohle

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schule" and "Sohle" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃuːlə] versus [ˈzoːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Schule" or "Sohle" show up more?
"Schule" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #397 in our German list, against #16,833 for "Sohle". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sohle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,929,223 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schule" and "Sohle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sohle vs Soho". 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 #1,929,223 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