AktevsAktenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,506
“Akte” frequency rank
#4,586
“Akten” frequency rank
13092
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Akte Akten
Definition Sammlung von Aufzeichnungen, die inhaltlich zusammengehören Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Akte

Where the eye mixes Akte and Akten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Akte runs 4 letters (VCCV) against Akten's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Akte
5 ch
Akten

Visual trap between Akte and Akten

A purely visual mix-up. Akte ([ˈaktə]) and Akten ([ˈaktn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Akte” sits inside “Akten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13092, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Akte is recorded at frequency rank #8,506, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaktə]. Akten is at rank #4,586, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaktn̩].

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 13092, this pair ranks #1,960,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Akte vs Akten

Shared letters: aekt. Private to "Akte": -. Private to "Akten": n.

"Akte" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Akten" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Akte ← aket · akkte · aktte · atke · kate
  • Akten ← aketn · akkten · aktenn · aktne · aktten · atken · katen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Akte" and "Akten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaktə] versus [ˈaktn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Akte" vs "Akten" - which ranks higher?
"Akten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,586 in our German list, against #8,506 for "Akte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Akte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Akten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,960,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Akte" and "Akten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Akte vs Atze". 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 #1,960,172 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