fachenvsfluchenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#29,116
“fachen” frequency rank
#23,935
“fluchen” frequency rank
53051
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fachen fluchen
Definition machen, dass es (gut) brennt Flüche/Verwünschungen ausstoßen

Where the eye mixes fachen and fluchen

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

6 ch
fachen
7 ch
fluchen

Visual trap between fachen and fluchen

A purely visual mix-up. fachen ([ˈfaxn̩]) and fluchen ([ˈfluːxn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53051, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fachen is recorded at frequency rank #29,116, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfaxn̩]. fluchen is at rank #23,935, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfluːxn̩].

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 53051, this pair ranks #1,073,008 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fachen vs fluchen

Shared letters: cefhn. Private to "fachen": a. Private to "fluchen": lu.

"fachen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fluchen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fachenafchen · facchen · facehn · fachenn · fachhen · fachne · fahcen · fcahen
  • fluchenffluchen · flcuhen · flluchen · flucchen · flucehn · fluchenn · fluchhen · fluchne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fachen" for "fluchen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaxn̩] versus [ˈfluːxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "fachen" or "fluchen" show up more?
"fluchen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,935 in our German list, against #29,116 for "fachen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fachen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fluchen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,073,008 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fachen" and "fluchen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fachen vs Fachs". 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 #1,073,008 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