schwarzvsSchwurWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: schwarz is a adjective, Schwur is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#842
“schwarz” frequency rank
#29,776
“Schwur” frequency rank
30618
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schwarz Schwur
Definition Licht nahezu komplett absorbierende Farbe, im RGB-Farbraum mit Werten von Rot, Blau und Grün nahe Null verbindliche Festlegung auf etwas

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set schwarz and Schwur apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
schwarz
6 ch
Schwur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schwarz is [ʃvaʁt͡s] while Schwur is [ʃvuːɐ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30618, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schwarz is recorded at frequency rank #842, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃvaʁt͡s]. Schwur is at rank #29,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃvuːɐ̯].

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 30618, this pair ranks #1,744,334 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schwarz vs Schwur

Shared letters: chrsw. Private to "schwarz": az. Private to "Schwur": u.

"schwarz" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC  ·  "Schwur" · 6 letters · shape CCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schwarzcshwarz · scchwarz · schawrz · schhwarz · schwarrz · schwarzz · schwazr · schwraz
  • Schwurcshwur · scchwur · schhwur · schuwr · schwru · schwurr · schwwur · scwhur

Frequency comparison

schwarz#842
Schwur#29,776

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "schwarz" and "Schwur" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "schwarz" is an adjective and "Schwur" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "schwarz" or "Schwur"?
"schwarz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #842 in our German list, against #29,776 for "Schwur". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering schwarz vs Schwur

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “schwarz”; for a noun, it's “Schwur”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “schwarz” 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