FlächevsFlankeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,292
“Fläche” frequency rank
#12,912
“Flanke” frequency rank
15204
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fläche Flanke
Definition ein zweidimensionales Gebilde eine Seite des Körpers vierbeiniger Säugetiere

Where the eye mixes Fläche and Flanke

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

6 ch
Fläche
6 ch
Flanke

Why the eye confuses Fläche with Flanke

A purely visual mix-up. Fläche ([ˈflɛçə]) and Flanke ([ˈflaŋkə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15204, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fläche is recorded at frequency rank #2,292, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈflɛçə]. Flanke is at rank #12,912, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈflaŋkə].

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 15204, this pair ranks #1,945,620 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fläche vs Flanke

Shared letters: efl. Private to "Fläche": chä. Private to "Flanke": akn.

"Fläche" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Flanke" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Flankefalnke · fflanke · flakne · flanek · flankke · flannke · fllanke · flnake

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Fläche" and "Flanke" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈflɛçə] versus [ˈflaŋkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Fläche" or "Flanke" show up more?
"Fläche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,292 in our German list, against #12,912 for "Flanke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fläche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Flanke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,945,620 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fläche" and "Flanke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flame vs Flanke". 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 #1,945,620 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