schalten

[ˈʃaltn̩]

/[ˈʃaltn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“schalten” has 13 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #6,851. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,851
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - eine Schaltung betätigen, zum Beispiel auf dem Fahrrad einen anderen Gang einlegen

Corpus desk

Index DE-schalten · schalten · German

schalten · rank #6,851 · 13 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,851
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sassen

Nearest frequency peer: Sassen (-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 „schalten“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „schalten“ 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).

schalten vs schauen
75% similar
schalten vs Schulen
63% similar
schalten vs schämen
63% similar

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

Key facts for schalten
PropertyValue
Headwordschalten
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃaltn̩]
Letters8
Frequency rank#6,851
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „schalten“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.schaltenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Sassen“ (#6,850), „Scheidung“ (#6,852), „Saft“ (#6,849). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „schalten“ bei #6,851. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around schalten (IPA [ˈʃaltn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #6,851 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for schalten, with forms such as "cshalten", "scahlten", and "scchalten". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "schauen", "Schulen", "schämen", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is schalten, spelled S-C-H-A-L-T-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    eine Schaltung betätigen, zum Beispiel auf dem Fahrrad einen anderen Gang einlegen
  2. 2
    einen Schalter betätigen
  3. 3
    etwas verstehen, eine Situation begreifen und deshalb darauf reagieren
  4. 4
    (nach Gutdünken) Macht ausüben
  5. 5
    (eine Anzeige) in die Zeitung setzen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Er schaltete in den dritten Gang, da er sonst den Berg nicht mehr hinaufgekommen wäre.
  2. Um den erhöhten Energiebedarf zu decken, wurde ein weiteres Kraftwerk an das Netz geschaltet.

Synonyms

reagierenverstehencheckenkapierenraffen

This word in other languages

shift(English)conectar(Español)coupler(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cshalten
  • scahlten
  • scchalten
  • schaletn
  • schallten
  • schaltenn
  • schaltne
  • schaltten
  • schatlen
  • schhalten
  • schlaten
  • shcalten
  • sschalten

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of schalten - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

cshalten2scahlten2scchalten1schaletn2schallten1schaltenn1schaltne2schaltten1
Edit distance from "schalten"

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 "schalten"?
"schalten" is spelled S-C-H-A-L-T-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃaltn̩].
What does "schalten" mean?
As a verb, "schalten" means: eine Schaltung betätigen, zum Beispiel auf dem Fahrrad einen anderen Gang einlegen
What words are commonly confused with "schalten"?
"schalten" is commonly confused with "schauen", "Schulen", "schämen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "schalten"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schalten" is [ˈʃaltn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "schalten" come from?
"schalten" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "schalten", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Schienen#6,853Schweine#6,854römische#6,847Rhythmus#6,845

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

vereinten13 variantsverkehrt13 variantsKorruption13 variantsInstitute13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list