achtvsactaConfusable pair

Quick tell: acht is a num, acta is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“acht” is a num and “acta” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#899
“acht” frequency rank
#20,153
“acta” frequency rank
21052
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acht acta
Definition die Kardinalzahl zwischen sieben und neun die Urkunde

Where the eye mixes acht and acta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. acht (VCCC) and acta (VCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
acht
4 ch
acta

Visual trap between acht and acta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acht is [axt] while acta is [ˈakta]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21052, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acht is recorded at frequency rank #899, classified as anum, pronounced [axt]. acta is at rank #20,153, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈakta].

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 21052, this pair ranks #1,890,704 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of acht vs acta

Shared letters: act. Private to "acht": h. Private to "acta": -.

"acht" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "acta" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acht ← accht · achht · achtt · acth · ahct · caht
  • acta ← acat · accta · actta · atca · cata

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "acht" and "acta" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "acht" is a num and "acta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "acht" vs "acta" - which ranks higher?
"acht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #899 in our German list, against #20,153 for "acta". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "acht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "acta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,890,704 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "acht" and "acta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acta vs arma". 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 #1,890,704 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