ElchvsElcheWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#33,554
“Elch” frequency rank
#42,456
“Elche” frequency rank
76010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Elch Elche
Definition (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 veraltend: Dativ Singular des Substantivs Elch

Where the eye mixes Elch and Elche

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

4 ch
Elch
5 ch
Elche

Visual trap between Elch and Elche

A purely visual mix-up. Elch ([ɛlç]) and Elche ([ˈɛlçə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Elch” sits inside “Elche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Elch is recorded at frequency rank #33,554, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɛlç]. Elche is at rank #42,456, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛlçə].

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 76010, this pair ranks #293,940 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Elch vs Elche

Shared letters: cehl. Private to "Elch": -. Private to "Elche": -.

"Elch" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "Elche" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Elcheclh · elcch · elchh · elhc · ellch
  • Elcheeclhe · elcche · elceh · elchhe · elhce · ellche · leche

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Elch" and "Elche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛlç] versus [ˈɛlçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Elch" or "Elche"?
"Elch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,554 in our German list, against #42,456 for "Elche". 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 "Elch" and "Elche" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Elch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Elche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #293,940 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Elch" and "Elche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Elche vs Eschen". 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 #293,940 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