scheinen
[ˈʃaɪ̯nən]
The verdict
“scheinen” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #2,361 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #2,361
- frequency rank, German
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Licht aussenden
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | scheinen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈʃaɪ̯nən] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #2,361 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “scheinen” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for scheinen is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈʃaɪ̯nən]. Corpus data places it at rank #2,361 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for scheinen, with forms such as "csheinen", "sccheinen", and "scehinen". 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, "seinen", "schien", "scheint", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is scheinen, spelled S-C-H-E-I-N-E-N.
Definition
- 1Licht aussenden
- 2in einer bestimmten Art und Weise wirken oder aussehen; einen Eindruck erwecken
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: csheinen,sccheinen,scehinen,scheienn,scheinenn,scheinne,scheinnen,schenien,schheinen,shceinen,sscheinen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of scheinen - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "scheinen"?
What does "scheinen" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "scheinen"?
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What language does "scheinen" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “scheinen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is S-C-H-E-I-N-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈʃaɪ̯nən] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “seinen” - see the side-by-side comparison. scheinen vs seinen
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.