Which to use
“schwebte” and “schweige” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,263
- “schwebte” frequency rank
- #39,619
- “schweige” frequency rank
- 70882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schwebte | schweige |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schweben | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schweigen |
Where the eye mixes schwebte and schweige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between schwebte and schweige
A purely visual mix-up. schwebte ([ˈʃveːptə]) and schweige ([ˈʃvaɪ̯ɡə]) 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 70882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schwebte is recorded at frequency rank #31,263, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃveːptə]. schweige is at rank #39,619, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃvaɪ̯ɡə].
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 70882, this pair ranks #433,088 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of schwebte vs schweige
Shared letters: cehsw. Private to "schwebte": bt. Private to "schweige": gi.
"schwebte" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV · "schweige" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "schwebte" and "schweige" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "schwebte" or "schweige" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "schwebte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schweige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,088 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schwebte" and "schweige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schweige vs schwinge". 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 #433,088 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.