AchsevsAHSConfusable pair

Quick tell: Achse is a noun, AHS is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Achse” is a noun and “AHS” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,432
“Achse” frequency rank
#31,921
“AHS” frequency rank
39353
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Achse AHS
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 Allgemeinbildende Höhere Schule

Where the eye mixes Achse and AHS

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Achse
3 ch
AHS

Visual trap between Achse and AHS

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Achse is [ˈaksə] while AHS is [aːhaːˈʔɛs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39353, 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]. AHS is at rank #31,921, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [aːhaːˈʔɛs].

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 39353, this pair ranks #1,539,096 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Achse vs AHS

Shared letters: ahs. Private to "Achse": ce. Private to "AHS": -.

"Achse" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "AHS" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Achseacchse · aches · achhse · achsse · ahcse · cahse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Achse" for "AHS" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Achse" is a noun and "AHS" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Achse" vs "AHS" - which ranks higher?
"Achse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,432 in our German list, against #31,921 for "AHS". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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 "AHS" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,539,096 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Achse" and "AHS" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "AHS vs AUD". 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 #1,539,096 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