EckevsElfeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,806
“Ecke” frequency rank
#43,837
“Elfe” frequency rank
45643
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ecke Elfe
Definition Punkt, in welchem zwei begrenzende Linien einer Fläche beziehungsweise drei oder mehr Grenzflächen eines Körpers zusammenstoßen weibliches Fabelwesen mit menschlicher/menschenähnlicher Gestalt

Where the eye mixes Ecke and Elfe

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

4 ch
Ecke
4 ch
Elfe

Why the eye confuses Ecke with Elfe

A purely visual mix-up. Ecke ([ˈɛkə]) and Elfe ([ˈɛlfə]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ecke is recorded at frequency rank #1,806, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛkə]. Elfe is at rank #43,837, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛlfə].

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 45643, this pair ranks #1,346,019 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ecke vs Elfe

Shared letters: e. Private to "Ecke": ck. Private to "Elfe": fl.

"Ecke" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Elfe" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Eckeceke · eccke · ecek · eckke · ekce
  • Elfeefle · elef · elffe · ellfe · lefe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ecke" and "Elfe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛkə] versus [ˈɛlfə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Ecke" vs "Elfe" - which ranks higher?
"Ecke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,806 in our German list, against #43,837 for "Elfe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ecke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Elfe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,346,019 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ecke" and "Elfe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Elfe vs Erle". 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 #1,346,019 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