schürenvsschüttenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#22,135
“schüren” frequency rank
#30,759
“schütten” frequency rank
52894
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schüren schütten
Definition Feuer durch Herumstochern anfachen etwas durch starkes Kippen aus einem Gefäß entfernen

Where the eye mixes schüren and schütten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. schüren runs 7 letters (CCCVCVC) against schütten's 8 (CCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
schüren
8 ch
schütten

Why the eye confuses schüren with schütten

A purely visual mix-up. schüren ([ˈʃyːʁən]) and schütten ([ˈʃʏtn̩]) 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 52894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schüren is recorded at frequency rank #22,135, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃyːʁən]. schütten is at rank #30,759, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʏtn̩].

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 52894, this pair ranks #1,079,140 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schüren vs schütten

Shared letters: cehnsü. Private to "schüren": r. Private to "schütten": t.

"schüren" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC  ·  "schütten" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schüren" for "schütten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃyːʁən] versus [ˈʃʏtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "schüren" vs "schütten" - which ranks higher?
"schüren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,135 in our German list, against #30,759 for "schütten". 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 "schüren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schütten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,079,140 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schüren" and "schütten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schütt vs schütten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,079,140 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