Which to use
“schweben” is a verb and “schwerer” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,403
- “schweben” frequency rank
- #2,681
- “schwerer” frequency rank
- 17084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schweben | schwerer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in einem Medium treiben | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schwer |
Where the eye mixes schweben and schwerer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between schweben and schwerer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schweben is [ˈʃveːbn̩] while schwerer is [ˈʃveːʁɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17084, 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]. schwerer is at rank #2,681, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃveːʁɐ].
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 17084, this pair ranks #1,930,490 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of schweben vs schwerer
Shared letters: cehsw. Private to "schweben": bn. Private to "schwerer": r.
"schweben" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCVC · "schwerer" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "schweben" for "schwerer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "schweben" vs "schwerer" - which ranks higher?
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 "schwerer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,930,490 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schweben" and "schwerer" 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 #1,930,490 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.