falschvsflachWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#810
“falsch” frequency rank
#5,830
“flach” frequency rank
6640
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature falsch flach
Definition unrichtig (durch Irrtum oder Unwissenheit), tatsächlich anders ohne größere Erhebungen und Vertiefungen

Where the eye mixes falsch and flach

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

6 ch
falsch
5 ch
flach

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. falsch ([falʃ]) and flach ([flax]) 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 6640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

falsch is recorded at frequency rank #810, classified as anadj, pronounced [falʃ]. flach is at rank #5,830, tagged as anadj, pronounced [flax].

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 6640, this pair ranks #1,990,952 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of falsch vs flach

Shared letters: acfhl. Private to "falsch": s. Private to "flach": -.

"falsch" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "flach" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • falschaflsch · falcsh · fallsch · falscch · falschh · falshc · falssch · faslch
  • flachfalch · fflach · flacch · flachh · flahc · flcah · fllach · lfach

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "falsch" and "flach" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([falʃ] versus [flax]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "falsch" or "flach"?
"falsch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #810 in our German list, against #5,830 for "flach". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "falsch" and "flach". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "falsch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "flach" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,990,952 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "falsch" and "flach" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flach vs flame". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list