AchtervsarcherWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,146
“Achter” frequency rank
#31,431
“archer” frequency rank
49577
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Achter archer
Definition die Ziffer 8 oder etwas, das die Ziffer 8 trägt (zum Beispiel ein Sportler mit der Trikotnummer 8) Bogenschütze, Bogenschützin

Letter map: Achter vs archer

Shared letters muted; letters that set Achter and archer apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. Achter and archer 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
archer

Pair insight - Achter / archer

Achter and archer are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49577, 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]. archer is at rank #31,431, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 49577, this pair ranks #1,206,189 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Achter vs archer

Shared letters: acehr. Private to "Achter": t. Private to "archer": -.

"Achter" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "archer" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Achter ← acchter · achetr · achhter · achterr · achtre · achtter · acther · ahcter
  • archer ← acrher · arccher · arcehr · archerr · archher · archre · arhcer · arrcher

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Achter" and "archer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "Achter" vs "archer" - which ranks higher?
"Achter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,146 in our German list, against #31,431 for "archer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Achter" and "archer".

  • Full dictionary entry for "Achter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "archer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,206,189 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Achter" and "archer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "archer vs puzzles". 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 #1,206,189 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