schwandvsschwangWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#46,979
“schwand” frequency rank
#40,831
“schwang” frequency rank
87810
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schwand schwang
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schwinden 1. Person Singular Präteritum Indikativ des Verbs schwingen

Where the eye mixes schwand and schwang

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. schwand and schwang follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
schwand
7 ch
schwang

Visual trap between schwand and schwang

A purely visual mix-up. schwand ([ʃvant]) and schwang ([ʃvaŋ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - d in “schwand” becomes g in “schwang”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87810, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schwand is recorded at frequency rank #46,979, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃvant]. schwang is at rank #40,831, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃvaŋ].

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 87810, this pair ranks #75,736 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of schwand vs schwang

Shared letters: achnsw. Private to "schwand": d. Private to "schwang": g.

"schwand" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC  ·  "schwang" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schwandcshwand · scchwand · schawnd · schhwand · schwadn · schwandd · schwannd · schwnad
  • schwangcshwang · scchwang · schawng · schhwang · schwagn · schwangg · schwanng · schwnag

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schwand" for "schwang" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃvant] versus [ʃvaŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "schwand" vs "schwang" - which ranks higher?
"schwang" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,831 in our German list, against #46,979 for "schwand". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schwand" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schwang" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #75,736 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schwand" and "schwang" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schwand vs schwanke". 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 #75,736 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