flachvsfrechWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,830
“flach” frequency rank
#9,545
“frech” frequency rank
15375
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flach frech
Definition ohne größere Erhebungen und Vertiefungen die Normen und Höflichkeit missachtend, Respekt vermissen lassend

Where the eye mixes flach and frech

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
flach
5 ch
frech

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. flach ([flax]) and frech ([fʁɛç]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flach is recorded at frequency rank #5,830, classified as anadj, pronounced [flax]. frech is at rank #9,545, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fʁɛç].

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 15375, this pair ranks #1,944,366 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of flach vs frech

Shared letters: cfh. Private to "flach": al. Private to "frech": er.

"flach" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "frech" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flachfalch · fflach · flacch · flachh · flahc · flcah · fllach · lfach
  • frechferch · ffrech · frceh · frecch · frechh · frehc · frrech · rfech

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flach" and "frech" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([flax] versus [fʁɛç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "flach" or "frech"?
"flach" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,830 in our German list, against #9,545 for "frech". 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 "flach" and "frech". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "flach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "frech" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,944,366 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "flach" and "frech" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "finch vs frech". 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