AktevsÄrzteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,506
“Akte” frequency rank
#2,279
“Ärzte” frequency rank
10785
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes Akte and Ärzte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Akte
5 ch
Ärzte

Look-alike desk: Akte vs Ärzte

A purely visual mix-up. Akte ([ˈaktə]) and Ärzte ([ˈɛːɐ̯t͡stə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10785, 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]. Ärzte is at rank #2,279, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛːɐ̯t͡stə].

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 10785, this pair ranks #1,973,321 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Akte vs Ärzte

Shared letters: et. Private to "Akte": ak. Private to "Ärzte": rzä.

"Akte" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Ärzte" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Akteaket · akkte · aktte · atke · kate

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Akte" and "Ärzte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaktə] versus [ˈɛːɐ̯t͡stə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Akte" or "Ärzte" show up more?
"Ärzte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,279 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Akte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ärzte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,973,321 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Akte" and "Ärzte" 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 #1,973,321 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