AchtervsAusterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,146
“Achter” frequency rank
#49,499
“Auster” frequency rank
67645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Achter Auster
Definition die Ziffer 8 oder etwas, das die Ziffer 8 trägt (zum Beispiel ein Sportler mit der Trikotnummer 8) Muschel, deren Inneres zum Verzehr geeignet ist und als Delikatesse gilt

Where the eye mixes Achter and Auster

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

6 ch
Achter
6 ch
Auster

Look-alike desk: Achter vs Auster

A purely visual mix-up. Achter ([ˈaxtɐ]) and Auster ([ˈaʊ̯stɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67645, 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]. Auster is at rank #49,499, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʊ̯stɐ].

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 67645, this pair ranks #533,414 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Achter vs Auster

Shared letters: aert. Private to "Achter": ch. Private to "Auster": su.

"Achter" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC  ·  "Auster" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Achteracchter · achetr · achhter · achterr · achtre · achtter · acther · ahcter
  • Austerausetr · ausster · austerr · austre · austter · autser · uaster

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Achter" and "Auster" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaxtɐ] versus [ˈaʊ̯stɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Achter" or "Auster"?
"Achter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,146 in our German list, against #49,499 for "Auster". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Achter" and "Auster" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Achter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Auster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #533,414 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Achter" and "Auster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "answer 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 #533,414 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