AchsevsAchterTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,432
“Achse” frequency rank
#18,146
“Achter” frequency rank
25578
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Achse Achter
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 die Ziffer 8 oder etwas, das die Ziffer 8 trägt (zum Beispiel ein Sportler mit der Trikotnummer 8)

Where the eye mixes Achse and Achter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Achse
6 ch
Achter

Why the eye confuses Achse with Achter

A purely visual mix-up. Achse ([ˈaksə]) and Achter ([ˈaxtɐ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25578, 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]. Achter is at rank #18,146, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaxtɐ].

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 25578, this pair ranks #1,831,140 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Achse vs Achter

Shared letters: aceh. Private to "Achse": s. Private to "Achter": rt.

"Achse" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "Achter" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Achseacchse · aches · achhse · achsse · ahcse · cahse
  • Achteracchter · achetr · achhter · achterr · achtre · achtter · acther · ahcter

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Achse" and "Achter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaksə] versus [ˈaxtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Achse" or "Achter" show up more?
"Achse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,432 in our German list, against #18,146 for "Achter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Achse" and "Achter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Achse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Achter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,831,140 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Achse" and "Achter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Achter vs Auster". 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 #1,831,140 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