AchtevsAkuteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,756
“Achte” frequency rank
#14,488
“Akute” frequency rank
21244
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Achte Akute
Definition Synonym für den Monat August im kaufmännischen und Verwaltungsbereich Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Akut

Where the eye mixes Achte and Akute

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

5 ch
Achte
5 ch
Akute

Why the eye confuses Achte with Akute

A purely visual mix-up. Achte ([ˈaxtə]) and Akute ([aˈkuːtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21244, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Achte is recorded at frequency rank #6,756, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaxtə]. Akute is at rank #14,488, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈkuːtə].

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 21244, this pair ranks #1,888,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Achte vs Akute

Shared letters: aet. Private to "Achte": ch. Private to "Akute": ku.

"Achte" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "Akute" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Achteacchte · achet · achhte · achtte · acthe · ahcte · cahte
  • Akuteakkute · aktue · akuet · akutte · aukte · kaute

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Achte" and "Akute" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaxtə] versus [aˈkuːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Achte" or "Akute"?
"Achte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,756 in our German list, against #14,488 for "Akute". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Achte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Akute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,888,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Achte" and "Akute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Akute vs azure". 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 #1,888,581 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