achtvsactsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#899
“acht” frequency rank
#24,599
“acts” frequency rank
25498
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acht acts
Definition die Kardinalzahl zwischen sieben und neun Plural des Substantivs act

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set acht and acts apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
acht
4 ch
acts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: acht is anum and actsanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acht is recorded at frequency rank #899, classified as anum, pronounced [axt]. acts is at rank #24,599, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 25498, this pair ranks #1,832,367 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of acht vs acts

Shared letters: act. Private to "acht": h. Private to "acts": s.

"acht" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "acts" · 4 letters · shape VCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • achtaccht · achht · achtt · acth · ahct · caht
  • actsaccts · acst · actss · actts · atcs

Frequency comparison

acht#899
acts#24,599

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acht" and "acts" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "acht" is a num and "acts" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "acht" or "acts"?
"acht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #899 in our German list, against #24,599 for "acts". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering acht vs acts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a num, it's “acht”; for a noun, it's “acts”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “acht” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list