rechvsRechtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: rech is a verb, Recht is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“rech” is a verb and “Recht” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,224
“rech” frequency rank
#227
“Recht” frequency rank
46451
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rech Recht
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rechen staatlich festgelegte und anerkannte Ordnung des menschlichen Zusammenlebens, deren Einhaltung durch staatlich organisierten Zwang garantiert wird

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rech and Recht apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
rech
5 ch
Recht

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rech is [ʁɛç] while Recht is [ʁɛçt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “rech” sits inside “Recht”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rech is recorded at frequency rank #46,224, classified as averb, pronounced [ʁɛç]. Recht is at rank #227, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʁɛçt].

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 46451, this pair ranks #1,318,712 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rech vs Recht

Shared letters: cehr. Private to "rech": -. Private to "Recht": t.

"rech" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Recht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recherch · rceh · recch · rechh · rehc · rrech
  • Rechtercht · rceht · reccht · rechht · rechtt · recth · rehct · rrecht

Frequency comparison

rech#46,224
Recht#227

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rech" and "Recht" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rech" is a verb and "Recht" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rech" or "Recht"?
"Recht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #227 in our German list, against #46,224 for "rech". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering rech vs Recht

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “rech”; for a noun, it's “Recht”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rech” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list