FortschrittvsFortschrittsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,702
“Fortschritt” frequency rank
#30,053
“Fortschritts” frequency rank
34755
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fortschritt Fortschritts
Definition gesellschaftliche, positive Entwicklung Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Fortschritt

Where the eye mixes Fortschritt and Fortschritts

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. Fortschritt runs 11 letters (CVCCCCCCVCC) against Fortschritts's 12 (CVCCCCCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
Fortschritt
12 ch
Fortschritts

Why the eye confuses Fortschritt with Fortschritts

A purely visual mix-up. Fortschritt ([ˈfɔʁtˌʃʁɪt]) and Fortschritts ([ˈfɔʁtˌʃʁɪt͡s]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Fortschritt” sits inside “Fortschritts”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34755, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fortschritt is recorded at frequency rank #4,702, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɔʁtˌʃʁɪt]. Fortschritts is at rank #30,053, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɔʁtˌʃʁɪt͡s].

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 34755, this pair ranks #1,656,034 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fortschritt vs Fortschritts

Shared letters: cfhiorst. Private to "Fortschritt": -. Private to "Fortschritts": -.

"Fortschritt" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCCCVCC  ·  "Fortschritts" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fortschritt ← ffortschritt · forrtschritt · forstchritt · fortcshritt · fortscchritt · fortschhritt · fortschirtt · fortschrit
  • Fortschritts ← ffortschritts · forrtschritts · forstchritts · fortcshritts · fortscchritts · fortschhritts · fortschirtts · fortschrits

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Fortschritt" for "Fortschritts" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɔʁtˌʃʁɪt] versus [ˈfɔʁtˌʃʁɪt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Fortschritt" vs "Fortschritts" - which ranks higher?
"Fortschritt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,702 in our German list, against #30,053 for "Fortschritts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fortschritt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Fortschritts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,656,034 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fortschritt" and "Fortschritts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fortschritten vs Fortschritts". 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 #1,656,034 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