Which to use
“Schurken” is a noun and “schütten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,780
- “Schurken” frequency rank
- #30,759
- “schütten” frequency rank
- 62539
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Schurken | schütten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Schurke | etwas durch starkes Kippen aus einem Gefäß entfernen |
Where the eye mixes Schurken and schütten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Schurken and schütten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Schurken and schütten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Schurken is [ˈʃʊʁkən] while schütten is [ˈʃʏtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Schurken is recorded at frequency rank #31,780, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃʊʁkən]. 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 62539, this pair ranks #709,138 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Schurken vs schütten
Shared letters: cehns. Private to "Schurken": kru. Private to "schütten": tü.
"Schurken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC · "schütten" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Schurken ← cshurken · scchurken · schhurken · schruken · schukren · schurekn · schurkenn · schurkken
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Schurken" for "schütten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Schurken" or "schütten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Schurken" 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 #709,138 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Schurken" and "schütten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schurke vs Schurken". 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 #709,138 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.