achtenvsArtenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#2,378
“achten” frequency rank
#1,653
“Arten” frequency rank
4031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature achten Arten
Definition auf etwas Acht geben, etwas Beachtung schenken Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Art

Where the eye mixes achten and Arten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
achten
5 ch
Arten

Visual trap between achten and Arten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: achten is [ˈaxtn̩] while Arten is [ˈaːɐ̯tn̩]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4031, 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]. Arten is at rank #1,653, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaːɐ̯tn̩].

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 4031, this pair ranks #1,998,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of achten vs Arten

Shared letters: aent. Private to "achten": ch. Private to "Arten": r.

"achten" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "Arten" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • achtenacchten · achetn · achhten · achtenn · achtne · achtten · acthen · ahcten
  • Artenaretn · arrten · artenn · artne · artten · atren

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "achten" and "Arten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "achten" is a verb and "Arten" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "achten" or "Arten" show up more?
"Arten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,653 in our German list, against #2,378 for "achten". 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 "achten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Arten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,998,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "achten" and "Arten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ärgsten vs Arten". 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 #1,998,758 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