effectvsEffektWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,859
“effect” frequency rank
#3,109
“Effekt” frequency rank
20968
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature effect Effekt
Definition Auswirkung, Folge Wirkung, die einfach entsteht oder auch absichtlich herbeigeführt werden kann, wobei diese auch überraschend oder beeindruckend sein kann

Where the eye mixes effect and Effekt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
effect
6 ch
Effekt

Visual trap between effect and Effekt

A purely visual mix-up. effect ([ɪˈfekt]) and Effekt ([ɛˈfɛkt]) 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 a single letter - c in “effect” becomes k in “Effekt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

effect is recorded at frequency rank #17,859, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɪˈfekt]. Effekt is at rank #3,109, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɛˈfɛkt].

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 20968, this pair ranks #1,891,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of effect vs Effekt

Shared letters: eft. Private to "effect": c. Private to "Effekt": k.

"effect" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "Effekt" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • effectefect · efefct · effcet · effecct · effectt · effetc · fefect
  • Effektefefkt · efekt · effekkt · effektt · effetk · effket · fefekt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "effect" for "Effekt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɪˈfekt] versus [ɛˈfɛkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "effect" vs "Effekt" - which ranks higher?
"Effekt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,109 in our German list, against #17,859 for "effect". 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 "effect" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Effekt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,891,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "effect" and "Effekt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "effect vs effects". 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 #1,891,694 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