ArschvsAscheTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,219
“Arsch” frequency rank
#7,008
“Asche” frequency rank
8227
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Arsch Asche
Definition für Hinterteil eines Tieres oder Menschen, Po, Gesäß Verbrennungsrückstand

Where the eye mixes Arsch and Asche

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

5 ch
Arsch
5 ch
Asche

Look-alike desk: Arsch vs Asche

A purely visual mix-up. Arsch ([aʁʃ]) and Asche ([ˈaʃə]) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Arsch is recorded at frequency rank #1,219, classified as anoun, pronounced [aʁʃ]. Asche is at rank #7,008, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaʃə].

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 8227, this pair ranks #1,985,122 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Arsch vs Asche

Shared letters: achs. Private to "Arsch": r. Private to "Asche": e.

"Arsch" · 5 letters · shape VCCCC  ·  "Asche" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Arscharcsh · arrsch · arscch · arschh · arshc · arssch · asrch
  • Ascheacshe · ascche · asceh · aschhe · ashce · assche

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Arsch" for "Asche" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aʁʃ] versus [ˈaʃə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Arsch" or "Asche" show up more?
"Arsch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,219 in our German list, against #7,008 for "Asche". 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 "Arsch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Asche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,985,122 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Arsch" and "Asche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Aisch vs Asche". 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 #1,985,122 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