EschvsEscheWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,712
“Esch” frequency rank
#39,328
“Esche” frequency rank
62040
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Esch Esche
Definition Gemarkung einer Gemeinde, die als Feld benutzt wird; Ackerfläche Laubbaum der Gattung Fraxinus

Where the eye mixes Esch and Esche

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

4 ch
Esch
5 ch
Esche

Why the eye confuses Esch with Esche

A purely visual mix-up. Esch ([ɛʃ]) and Esche ([ˈɛʃə]) 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) - “Esch” sits inside “Esche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Esch is recorded at frequency rank #22,712, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɛʃ]. Esche is at rank #39,328, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʃə].

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 62040, this pair ranks #727,389 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Esch vs Esche

Shared letters: cehs. Private to "Esch": -. Private to "Esche": -.

"Esch" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "Esche" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Eschecsh · escch · eschh · eshc · essch · sech
  • Escheecshe · escche · esceh · eschhe · eshce · essche · seche

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Esch" for "Esche" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛʃ] versus [ˈɛʃə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Esch" or "Esche"?
"Esch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,712 in our German list, against #39,328 for "Esche". 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 "Esch" and "Esche" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Esch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Esche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #727,389 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Esch" and "Esche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Esche 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 #727,389 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