Which to use
“schweren” is an adjective and “schwören” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,264
- “schweren” frequency rank
- #17,408
- “schwören” frequency rank
- 19672
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | schweren | schwören |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs schwer | einen Schwur oder Eid ablegen, abgeben, leisten |
Where the eye mixes schweren and schwören
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. schweren and schwören follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between schweren and schwören
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: schweren is [ˈʃveːʁən] while schwören is [ˈʃvøːʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “schweren” becomes ö in “schwören”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
schweren is recorded at frequency rank #2,264, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃveːʁən]. schwören is at rank #17,408, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃvøːʁən].
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 19672, this pair ranks #1,905,855 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of schweren vs schwören
Shared letters: cehnrsw. Private to "schweren": -. Private to "schwören": ö.
"schweren" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCVC · "schwören" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- schweren ← cshweren · scchweren · schewren · schhweren · schweern · schwerenn · schwerne · schwerren
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "schweren" and "schwören" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "schweren" or "schwören" 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 "schweren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "schwören" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,905,855 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "schweren" and "schwören" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schwirren vs schwören". 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 #1,905,855 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.