SchwächevsschwächereWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Schwäche is a noun, schwächere is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Schwäche” is a noun and “schwächere” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,003
“Schwäche” frequency rank
#21,764
“schwächere” frequency rank
27767
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schwäche schwächere
Definition mangelnde körperliche oder geistige Kraft Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Komparativs des Adjektivs schwach

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Schwäche and schwächere apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
Schwäche
10 ch
schwächere

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Schwäche and schwächere form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Schwäche” sits inside “schwächere” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schwäche is recorded at frequency rank #6,003, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃvɛçə]. schwächere is at rank #21,764, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃvɛçəʁə].

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 27767, this pair ranks #1,796,237 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

Schwäche#6,003
schwächere#21,764

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schwäche" and "schwächere" be used interchangeably?
No, "Schwäche" and "schwächere" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering Schwäche vs schwächere

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Schwäche”; for an adjective, it's “schwächere”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Schwäche” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list