SchüssevsSchützeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,664
“Schüsse” frequency rank
#9,629
“Schütze” frequency rank
17293
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schüsse Schütze
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Schuss jemand, dessen Tätigkeit das Schießen ist

Where the eye mixes Schüsse and Schütze

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Schüsse and Schütze follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Schüsse
7 ch
Schütze

Visual trap between Schüsse and Schütze

A purely visual mix-up. Schüsse ([ˈʃʏsə]) and Schütze ([ˈʃʏt͡sə]) 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 17293, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schüsse is recorded at frequency rank #7,664, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃʏsə]. Schütze is at rank #9,629, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃʏt͡sə].

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 17293, this pair ranks #1,928,657 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schüsse vs Schütze

Shared letters: cehsü. Private to "Schüsse": -. Private to "Schütze": tz.

"Schüsse" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV  ·  "Schütze" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schüsse" for "Schütze" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃʏsə] versus [ˈʃʏt͡sə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Schüsse" or "Schütze" show up more?
"Schüsse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,664 in our German list, against #9,629 for "Schütze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Schüsse" and "Schütze" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schüsse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schütze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,928,657 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schüsse" and "Schütze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schurke vs Schütze". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,928,657 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