schwingevsschwingtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,980
“schwinge” frequency rank
#15,206
“schwingt” frequency rank
62186
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature schwinge schwingt
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schwingen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs schwingen

Where the eye mixes schwinge and schwingt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
schwinge
8 ch
schwingt

Visual trap between schwinge and schwingt

A purely visual mix-up. schwinge ([ˈʃvɪŋə]) and schwingt ([ʃvɪŋt]) 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 a single letter - e in “schwinge” becomes t in “schwingt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62186, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

schwinge is recorded at frequency rank #46,980, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃvɪŋə]. schwingt is at rank #15,206, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃvɪŋt].

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 62186, this pair ranks #722,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of schwinge vs schwingt

Shared letters: cghinsw. Private to "schwinge": e. Private to "schwingt": t.

"schwinge" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCV  ·  "schwingt" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • schwingecshwinge · scchwinge · schhwinge · schiwnge · schwigne · schwineg · schwingge · schwinnge
  • schwingtcshwingt · scchwingt · schhwingt · schiwngt · schwignt · schwinggt · schwingtt · schwinngt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "schwinge" for "schwingt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃvɪŋə] versus [ʃvɪŋt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "schwinge" or "schwingt"?
"schwingt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,206 in our German list, against #46,980 for "schwinge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "schwinge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "schwingt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #722,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "schwinge" and "schwingt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schwanke 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 #722,108 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