Which to use
“schwere” is an adjective and “Schwule” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,988
- “schwere” frequency rank
- #6,590
- “Schwule” frequency rank
- 8578
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schwere | Schwule |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schwer | Nominativ Plural der starken Deklination des Substantivs Schwuler |
Where the eye mixes schwere and Schwule
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. schwere and Schwule follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between schwere and Schwule
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schwere is [ˈʃveːʁə] while Schwule is [ˈʃvuːlə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schwere is recorded at frequency rank #1,988, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃveːʁə]. Schwule is at rank #6,590, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃvuːlə].
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 8578, this pair ranks #1,983,742 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of schwere vs Schwule
Shared letters: cehsw. Private to "schwere": r. Private to "Schwule": lu.
"schwere" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCV · "Schwule" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "schwere" for "Schwule" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "schwere" or "Schwule" 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 "schwere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Schwule" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,983,742 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schwere" and "Schwule" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schwule vs schwules". 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 #1,983,742 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.