Which to use
“schweben” and “schwebte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,403
- “schweben” frequency rank
- #31,263
- “schwebte” frequency rank
- 45666
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schweben | schwebte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in einem Medium treiben | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schweben |
Where the eye mixes schweben and schwebte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: schweben vs schwebte
A purely visual mix-up. schweben ([ˈʃveːbn̩]) and schwebte ([ˈʃveːptə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45666, 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]. schwebte is at rank #31,263, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃveːptə].
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 45666, this pair ranks #1,345,236 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of schweben vs schwebte
Shared letters: bcehsw. Private to "schweben": n. Private to "schwebte": t.
"schweben" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCVC · "schwebte" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "schweben" and "schwebte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "schweben" or "schwebte" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "schweben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schwebte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,345,236 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schweben" and "schwebte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schwebte vs schweige". 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 #1,345,236 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.