forschenvsforschtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,625
“forschen” frequency rank
#21,255
“forscht” frequency rank
36880
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature forschen forscht
Definition sich intensiv um wissenschaftliche Erkenntnis bemühen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs forschen

Where the eye mixes forschen and forscht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. forschen runs 8 letters (CVCCCCVC) against forscht's 7 (CVCCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
forschen
7 ch
forscht

Visual trap between forschen and forscht

A purely visual mix-up. forschen ([ˈfɔʁʃn̩]) and forscht ([fɔʁʃt]) 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 36880, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

forschen is recorded at frequency rank #15,625, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfɔʁʃn̩]. forscht is at rank #21,255, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɔʁʃt].

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 36880, this pair ranks #1,604,373 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of forschen vs forscht

Shared letters: cfhors. Private to "forschen": en. Private to "forscht": t.

"forschen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC  ·  "forscht" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • forschen ← fforschen · forcshen · forrschen · forscchen · forscehn · forschenn · forschhen · forschne
  • forscht ← fforscht · forcsht · forrscht · forsccht · forschht · forschtt · forscth · forshct

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "forschen" and "forscht" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɔʁʃn̩] versus [fɔʁʃt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "forschen" vs "forscht" - which ranks higher?
"forschen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,625 in our German list, against #21,255 for "forscht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "forschen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "forscht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,604,373 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "forschen" and "forscht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forscht vs forschte". 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 #1,604,373 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