Which to use
“schweben” and “schweifen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,403
- “schweben” frequency rank
- #32,259
- “schweifen” frequency rank
- 46662
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schweben | schweifen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in einem Medium treiben | sich ohne festes Ziel in einem Bereich bewegen |
Where the eye mixes schweben and schweifen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. schweben runs 8 letters (CCCCVCVC) against schweifen's 9 (CCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between schweben and schweifen
A purely visual mix-up. schweben ([ˈʃveːbn̩]) and schweifen ([ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩]) 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 46662, 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]. schweifen is at rank #32,259, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃvaɪ̯fn̩].
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 46662, this pair ranks #1,311,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of schweben vs schweifen
Shared letters: cehnsw. Private to "schweben": b. Private to "schweifen": fi.
"schweben" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCVC · "schweifen" · 9 letters · shape CCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "schweben" and "schweifen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "schweben" or "schweifen" show up more?
After this comparison
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 "schweifen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,311,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schweben" and "schweifen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schweif vs schweifen". 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 #1,311,405 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.