AchtervsachtetWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#18,146
“Achter” frequency rank
#10,030
“achtet” frequency rank
28176
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Achter achtet
Definition die Ziffer 8 oder etwas, das die Ziffer 8 trägt (zum Beispiel ein Sportler mit der Trikotnummer 8) 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs achten

Where the eye mixes Achter and achtet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Achter 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
Achter
6 ch
achtet

Look-alike desk: Achter vs achtet

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Achter is [ˈaxtɐ] while achtet is [ˈaxtət]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “Achter” becomes t in “achtet”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Achter is recorded at frequency rank #18,146, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaxtɐ]. 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 28176, this pair ranks #1,789,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Achter vs achtet

Shared letters: aceht. Private to "Achter": r. Private to "achtet": -.

"Achter" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "achtet" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Achteracchter · achetr · achhter · achterr · achtre · achtter · acther · ahcter
  • achtetacchtet · achett · achhtet · achtett · achttet · acthet · ahctet · cahtet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Achter" and "achtet" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Achter" is a noun and "achtet" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Achter" or "achtet"?
"achtet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,030 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Achter" 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 #1,789,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Achter" and "achtet" 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 #1,789,261 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