achtenvsAchterWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: achten is a verb, Achter is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“achten” is a verb and “Achter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,378
“achten” frequency rank
#18,146
“Achter” frequency rank
20524
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature achten Achter
Definition auf etwas Acht geben, etwas Beachtung schenken die Ziffer 8 oder etwas, das die Ziffer 8 trägt (zum Beispiel ein Sportler mit der Trikotnummer 8)

Where the eye mixes achten and Achter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. achten and Achter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
achten
6 ch
Achter

Look-alike desk: achten vs Achter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: achten is [ˈaxtn̩] while Achter is [ˈaxtɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “achten” becomes r in “Achter”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20524, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

achten is recorded at frequency rank #2,378, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaxtn̩]. Achter is at rank #18,146, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaxtɐ].

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 20524, this pair ranks #1,896,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of achten vs Achter

Shared letters: aceht. Private to "achten": n. Private to "Achter": r.

"achten" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "Achter" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • achtenacchten · achetn · achhten · achtenn · achtne · achtten · acthen · ahcten
  • Achteracchter · achetr · achhter · achterr · achtre · achtter · acther · ahcter

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "achten" and "Achter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "achten" is a verb and "Achter" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "achten" vs "Achter" - which ranks higher?
"achten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,378 in our German list, against #18,146 for "Achter". 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 "achten" and "Achter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "achten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Achter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,896,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "achten" and "Achter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Achter vs Auster". 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 #1,896,690 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