FächervsFrachterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,918
“Fächer” frequency rank
#29,129
“Frachter” frequency rank
37047
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fächer Frachter
Definition Gegenstand zum Zuwedeln von kühlender Luft auf den Gütertransport ausgelegtes Schiff

Where the eye mixes Fächer and Frachter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Fächer runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Frachter's 8 (CCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Fächer
8 ch
Frachter

Why the eye confuses Fächer with Frachter

A purely visual mix-up. Fächer ([ˈfɛçɐ]) and Frachter ([ˈfʁaxtɐ]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fächer is recorded at frequency rank #7,918, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛçɐ]. Frachter is at rank #29,129, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁaxtɐ].

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 37047, this pair ranks #1,600,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fächer vs Frachter

Shared letters: cefhr. Private to "Fächer": ä. Private to "Frachter": at.

"Fächer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Frachter" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Frachter ← farchter · ffrachter · fracchter · frachetr · frachhter · frachterr · frachtre · frachtter

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Fächer" for "Frachter" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɛçɐ] versus [ˈfʁaxtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Fächer" or "Frachter" show up more?
"Fächer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,918 in our German list, against #29,129 for "Frachter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fächer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Frachter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,600,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fächer" and "Frachter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Frachter vs frecher". 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 #1,600,152 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