Schäfchen

[ˈʃɛːfçən]

/[ˈʃɛːfçən]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Schäfchen” has 15 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #36,013. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#36,013
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - kleines Schaf

Corpus desk

Index DE-schafchen · Schäfchen · German

Schäfchen · rank #36,013 · 15 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #36,013
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH schädigt

Nearest frequency peer: schädigt (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Schäfchen“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Schäfchen“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Schäfchen vs Schafen
67% similar
Schäfchen vs schaffen
56% similar
Schäfchen vs Schwächen
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Schäfchen
PropertyValue
HeadwordSchäfchen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈʃɛːfçən]
Letters9
Frequency rank#36,013
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Schäfchen“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Schäfchenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „schädigt“ (#36,012), „Segmenten“ (#36,014), „schwimmende“ (#36,011). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „Schäfchen“ bei #36,013. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around Schäfchen (IPA [ˈʃɛːfçən]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #36,013 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for Schäfchen, with forms such as "cshäfchen", "scchäfchen", and "schfächen". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "Schafen", "schaffen", "Schwächen", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is Schäfchen, spelled S-C-H-Ä-F-C-H-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    kleines Schaf
  2. 2
    Menschen, die in jemandes Obhut stehen, die Gläubigen einer religiösen Gemeinschaft oder Kinder
  3. 3
    Schäfchenwolke
  4. 4
    Kosewort (meist für ein Kind)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Schäfchen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Das kleine Schäfchen steht mit dem Mutterschaf auf der Weide.
  2. Der Lehrer bemüht sich, seinen Schäfchen etwas beizubringen.

Synonyms

Schäflein

This word in other languages

lamb(English)cordero(Español)agneau(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cshäfchen
  • scchäfchen
  • schfächen
  • schhäfchen
  • schäcfhen
  • schäfcchen
  • schäfcehn
  • schäfchenn
  • schäfchhen
  • schäfchne
  • schäffchen
  • schäfhcen
  • scähfchen
  • shcäfchen
  • sschäfchen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Schäfchen - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

cshäfchen2scchäfchen1schfächen2schhäfchen1schäcfhen2schäfcchen1schäfcehn2schäfchenn1
Edit distance from "Schäfchen"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Schäfchen"?
"Schäfchen" is spelled S-C-H-Ä-F-C-H-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃɛːfçən].
What does "Schäfchen" mean?
As a noun, "Schäfchen" means: kleines Schaf
What words are commonly confused with "Schäfchen"?
"Schäfchen" is commonly confused with "Schafen", "schaffen", "Schwächen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Schäfchen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Schäfchen" is [ˈʃɛːfçən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Schäfchen" come from?
"Schäfchen" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Schäfchen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Segmenten#36,014Rundreise#36,000stagniert#36,038Quellcode#35,971

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

Rückzieher15 variantssteigendem15 variantsPräsidiums15 variantsTierärztin15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list