schüttenvsschützteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#30,759
“schütten” frequency rank
#37,193
“schützte” frequency rank
67952
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schütten schützte
Definition etwas durch starkes Kippen aus einem Gefäß entfernen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schützen

Where the eye mixes schütten and schützte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. schütten (CCCVCCVC) and schützte (CCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
schütten
8 ch
schützte

Visual trap between schütten and schützte

A purely visual mix-up. schütten ([ˈʃʏtn̩]) and schützte ([ˈʃʏt͡stə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67952, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schütten is recorded at frequency rank #30,759, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʏtn̩]. schützte is at rank #37,193, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃʏt͡stə].

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 67952, this pair ranks #523,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schütten vs schützte

Shared letters: cehstü. Private to "schütten": n. Private to "schützte": z.

"schütten" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "schützte" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "schütten" and "schützte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃʏtn̩] versus [ˈʃʏt͡stə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "schütten" vs "schützte" - which ranks higher?
"schütten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,759 in our German list, against #37,193 for "schützte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "schütten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schützte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #523,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schütten" and "schützte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schütt vs schützte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #523,436 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