schwebenvsschwebtConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,403
“schweben” frequency rank
#13,014
“schwebt” frequency rank
27417
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schweben schwebt
Definition in einem Medium treiben 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schweben

Where the eye mixes schweben and schwebt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
schweben
7 ch
schwebt

Why the eye confuses schweben with schwebt

A purely visual mix-up. schweben ([ˈʃveːbn̩]) and schwebt ([ʃveːpt]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schweben is recorded at frequency rank #14,403, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃveːbn̩]. schwebt is at rank #13,014, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃveːpt].

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 27417, this pair ranks #1,802,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of schweben vs schwebt

Shared letters: bcehsw. Private to "schweben": n. Private to "schwebt": t.

"schweben" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCVC  ·  "schwebt" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schwebencshweben · scchweben · schewben · schhweben · schwbeen · schwebben · schwebenn · schwebne
  • schwebtcshwebt · scchwebt · schewbt · schhwebt · schwbet · schwebbt · schwebtt · schwetb

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schweben" for "schwebt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃveːbn̩] versus [ʃveːpt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schweben" or "schwebt"?
"schwebt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,014 in our German list, against #14,403 for "schweben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "schweben" and "schwebt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schweben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schwebt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,802,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schweben" and "schwebt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schweben vs schwebende". 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 #1,802,102 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