AchsevsAchselnTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,432
“Achse” frequency rank
#35,039
“Achseln” frequency rank
42471
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Achse Achseln
Definition lotrechte oder waagerechte Gerade oder Linie, die unveränderlich ist, und eine Mittellinie, um die sich ein Körper dreht; gedachte Gerade mit besonderen Symmetrie-Eigenschaften Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Achsel

Where the eye mixes Achse and Achseln

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Achse runs 5 letters (VCCCV) against Achseln's 7 (VCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Achse
7 ch
Achseln

Visual trap between Achse and Achseln

A purely visual mix-up. Achse ([ˈaksə]) and Achseln ([ˈaksəln]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Achse” sits inside “Achseln”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Achse is recorded at frequency rank #7,432, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaksə]. Achseln is at rank #35,039, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaksəln].

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 42471, this pair ranks #1,448,273 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Achse vs Achseln

Shared letters: acehs. Private to "Achse": -. Private to "Achseln": ln.

"Achse" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "Achseln" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Achseacchse · aches · achhse · achsse · ahcse · cahse
  • Achselnacchseln · achesln · achhseln · achselln · achselnn · achsenl · achslen · achsseln

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Achse" and "Achseln" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaksə] versus [ˈaksəln]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Achse" or "Achseln" show up more?
"Achse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,432 in our German list, against #35,039 for "Achseln". 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 "Achse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Achseln" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,448,273 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Achse" and "Achseln" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Achseln vs achtel". 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 #1,448,273 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