SchwächevsschwachesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,003
“Schwäche” frequency rank
#22,133
“schwaches” frequency rank
28136
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schwäche schwaches
Definition mangelnde körperliche oder geistige Kraft Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schwach

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Schwäche and schwaches apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
Schwäche
9 ch
schwaches

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Schwäche and schwaches 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 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28136, 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]. schwaches is at rank #22,133, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃvaxəs].

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 28136, this pair ranks #1,789,937 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

Schwäche#6,003
schwaches#22,133

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schwäche" and "schwaches" be used interchangeably?
No, "Schwäche" and "schwaches" 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 schwaches

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 “schwaches”.
  • 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