Which to use
“schwanke” is an adjective and “schwankt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,464
- “schwanke” frequency rank
- #16,277
- “schwankt” frequency rank
- 64741
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schwanke | schwankt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs schwank | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schwanken |
Where the eye mixes schwanke and schwankt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. schwanke (CCCCVCCV) and schwankt (CCCCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: schwanke vs schwankt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schwanke is [ˈʃvaŋkə] while schwankt is [ʃvaŋkt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “schwanke” becomes t in “schwankt”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64741, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schwanke is recorded at frequency rank #48,464, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃvaŋkə]. schwankt is at rank #16,277, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃvaŋkt].
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 64741, this pair ranks #630,954 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of schwanke vs schwankt
Shared letters: achknsw. Private to "schwanke": e. Private to "schwankt": t.
"schwanke" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV · "schwankt" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "schwanke" and "schwankt" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "schwanke" or "schwankt" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "schwanke" and "schwankt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "schwanke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schwankt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #630,954 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schwanke" and "schwankt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schwanke vs schwinge". 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 #630,954 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.