Which to use
“echt” is an adjective and “Elch” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #394
- “echt” frequency rank
- #33,554
- “Elch” frequency rank
- 33948
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | echt | Elch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unverfälscht | (in der Tundra und den Sumpfwäldern des nördlichen Eurasiens und Nordamerikas beheimateter) größter heute noch vorkommender Vertreter (Alces alces) der Hirsche (Cervidae) mit kurzem wuchtigen, rotbraunem bis schwarzbraunem Rumpf, dazu relativ langen, grauweißen Läufen und einem Schaufelgeweih |
Where the eye mixes echt and Elch
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between echt and Elch
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: echt is [ɛçt] while Elch is [ɛlç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
echt is recorded at frequency rank #394, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛçt]. Elch is at rank #33,554, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɛlç].
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 33948, this pair ranks #1,674,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of echt vs Elch
Shared letters: ceh. Private to "echt": t. Private to "Elch": l.
"echt" · 4 letters · shape VCCC · "Elch" · 4 letters · shape VCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "echt" and "Elch" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "echt" or "Elch" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "echt" and "Elch" 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 "Elch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,674,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "echt" and "Elch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Elch vs elm". 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 #1,674,486 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.