achtelvsachtmalWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: achtel is a adjective, achtmal is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“achtel” is an adjective and “achtmal” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,190
“achtel” frequency rank
#41,628
“achtmal” frequency rank
80818
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature achtel achtmal
Definition aus einem von acht gleich großen Teilen bestehend mit acht vervielfacht; siebenmal und ein weiteres Mal; achtfach vorgekommen, durchgeführt

Where the eye mixes achtel and achtmal

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. achtel runs 6 letters (VCCCVC) against achtmal's 7 (VCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
achtel
7 ch
achtmal

Look-alike desk: achtel vs achtmal

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: achtel is [ˈaxtl̩] while achtmal is [ˈaxtmaːl]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80818, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

achtel is recorded at frequency rank #39,190, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaxtl̩]. achtmal is at rank #41,628, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈaxtmaːl].

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 80818, this pair ranks #187,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of achtel vs achtmal

Shared letters: achlt. Private to "achtel": e. Private to "achtmal": m.

"achtel" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "achtmal" · 7 letters · shape VCCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • achtelacchtel · achetl · achhtel · achtell · achtle · achttel · acthel · ahctel
  • achtmalacchtmal · achhtmal · achmtal · achtaml · achtmall · achtmla · achtmmal · achttmal

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "achtel" and "achtmal" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "achtel" is an adjective and "achtmal" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "achtel" or "achtmal" show up more?
"achtel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,190 in our German list, against #41,628 for "achtmal". 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 "achtel" and "achtmal" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "achtel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "achtmal" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #187,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "achtel" and "achtmal" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "achtel vs achtete". 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 #187,846 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