FleckchenvsFleckenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#37,519
“Fleckchen” frequency rank
#6,426
“Flecken” frequency rank
43945
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fleckchen Flecken
Definition kleiner Ort/Platz sich zum Beispiel durch Verschmutzung oder Farbe von der Umgebung unterscheidende Stelle

Where the eye mixes Fleckchen and Flecken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Fleckchen runs 9 letters (CCVCCCCVC) against Flecken's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Fleckchen
7 ch
Flecken

Look-alike desk: Fleckchen vs Flecken

A purely visual mix-up. Fleckchen ([ˈflɛkçən]) and Flecken ([ˈflɛkn̩]) 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 43945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fleckchen is recorded at frequency rank #37,519, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈflɛkçən]. Flecken is at rank #6,426, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈflɛkn̩].

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 43945, this pair ranks #1,402,035 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Fleckchen vs Flecken

Shared letters: cefkln. Private to "Fleckchen": h. Private to "Flecken": -.

"Fleckchen" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCCCVC  ·  "Flecken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fleckchen ← felckchen · ffleckchen · flcekchen · flecckchen · flecckhen · fleckcchen · fleckcehn · fleckchenn
  • Flecken ← felcken · fflecken · flceken · fleccken · flecekn · fleckenn · fleckken · fleckne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Fleckchen" and "Flecken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈflɛkçən] versus [ˈflɛkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Fleckchen" vs "Flecken" - which ranks higher?
"Flecken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,426 in our German list, against #37,519 for "Fleckchen". 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 "Fleckchen" and "Flecken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fleckchen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Flecken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,402,035 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fleckchen" and "Flecken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Flecken vs flehen". 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 #1,402,035 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