SchwertvsSchwurWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Schwert” and “Schwur” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,877
“Schwert” frequency rank
#29,776
“Schwur” frequency rank
35653
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schwert Schwur
Definition aus Metall bestehende Klingenwaffe verbindliche Festlegung auf etwas

Where the eye mixes Schwert and Schwur

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Schwert
6 ch
Schwur

Visual trap between Schwert and Schwur

A purely visual mix-up. Schwert ([ʃveːɐ̯t]) and Schwur ([ʃvuːɐ̯]) 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 35653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schwert is recorded at frequency rank #5,877, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃveːɐ̯t]. Schwur is at rank #29,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃvuːɐ̯].

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 35653, this pair ranks #1,634,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schwert vs Schwur

Shared letters: chrsw. Private to "Schwert": et. Private to "Schwur": u.

"Schwert" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC  ·  "Schwur" · 6 letters · shape CCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schwertcshwert · scchwert · schewrt · schhwert · schwerrt · schwertt · schwetr · schwret
  • Schwurcshwur · scchwur · schhwur · schuwr · schwru · schwurr · schwwur · scwhur

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schwert" for "Schwur" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃveːɐ̯t] versus [ʃvuːɐ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Schwert" vs "Schwur" - which ranks higher?
"Schwert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,877 in our German list, against #29,776 for "Schwur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Schwert" and "Schwur" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schwert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schwur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,634,834 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schwert" and "Schwur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schwund vs Schwur". 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 #1,634,834 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list