achtenvsachtetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,378
“achten” frequency rank
#10,030
“achtet” frequency rank
12408
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature achten achtet
Definition auf etwas Acht geben, etwas Beachtung schenken 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs achten

Where the eye mixes achten and achtet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. achten and achtet 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
achtet

Why the eye confuses achten with achtet

A purely visual mix-up. achten ([ˈaxtn̩]) and achtet ([ˈaxtət]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - n in “achten” becomes t in “achtet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12408, 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]. achtet is at rank #10,030, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaxtət].

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 12408, this pair ranks #1,964,372 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of achten vs achtet

Shared letters: aceht. Private to "achten": n. Private to "achtet": -.

"achten" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "achtet" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • achtenacchten · achetn · achhten · achtenn · achtne · achtten · acthen · ahcten
  • achtetacchtet · achett · achhtet · achtett · achttet · acthet · ahctet · cahtet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "achten" and "achtet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaxtn̩] versus [ˈaxtət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "achten" or "achtet"?
"achten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,378 in our German list, against #10,030 for "achtet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "achten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "achtet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,964,372 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "achten" and "achtet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "achtet 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 #1,964,372 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