AktevsaxeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#8,506
“Akte” frequency rank
#45,148
“axe” frequency rank
53654
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Akte axe
Definition Sammlung von Aufzeichnungen, die inhaltlich zusammengehören die Axt, das Beil

Where the eye mixes Akte and axe

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

4 ch
Akte
3 ch
axe

Why the eye confuses Akte with axe

A purely visual mix-up. Akte ([ˈaktə]) and axe ([æks]) 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 53654, 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]. axe is at rank #45,148, tagged as anoun, pronounced [æks].

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 53654, this pair ranks #1,049,609 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Akte vs axe

Shared letters: ae. Private to "Akte": kt. Private to "axe": x.

"Akte" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "axe" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Akteaket · akkte · aktte · atke · kate

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Akte" and "axe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaktə] versus [æks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Akte" or "axe"?
"Akte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,506 in our German list, against #45,148 for "axe". 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 "Akte" and "axe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Akte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "axe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,049,609 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Akte" and "axe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "AUD vs axe". 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 #1,049,609 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