echtvsechterTell them apart

Which to use

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

#394
“echt” frequency rank
#3,721
“echter” frequency rank
4115
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature echt echter
Definition unverfälscht Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs echt

Where the eye mixes echt and echter

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

4 ch
echt
6 ch
echter

Why the eye confuses echt with echter

A purely visual mix-up. echt ([ɛçt]) and echter ([ˈɛçtɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “echt” sits inside “echter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4115, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

echt is recorded at frequency rank #394, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛçt]. echter is at rank #3,721, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛçtɐ].

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 4115, this pair ranks #1,998,544 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of echt vs echter

Shared letters: ceht. Private to "echt": -. Private to "echter": r.

"echt" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "echter" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • echtceht · eccht · echht · echtt · ecth · ehct
  • echtercehter · ecchter · echetr · echhter · echterr · echtre · echtter · ecther

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "echt" and "echter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛçt] versus [ˈɛçtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "echt" vs "echter" - which ranks higher?
"echt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #394 in our German list, against #3,721 for "echter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "echt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "echter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,998,544 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "echt" and "echter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Easter vs echter". 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 #1,998,544 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