Which to use
“rechen” is a verb and “rechtens” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,966
- “rechen” frequency rank
- #24,893
- “rechtens” frequency rank
- 63859
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rechen | rechtens |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas, häufig auf dem Boden Liegendes mit einem Rechen, einer Harke zusammentragen | mit dem gültigen Recht vereinbar |
Where the eye mixes rechen and rechtens
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. rechen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against rechtens's 8 (CVCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses rechen with rechtens
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rechen is [ˈʁɛçn̩] while rechtens is [ˈʁɛçtn̩s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rechen is recorded at frequency rank #38,966, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɛçn̩]. rechtens is at rank #24,893, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈʁɛçtn̩s].
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 63859, this pair ranks #661,832 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rechen vs rechtens
Shared letters: cehnr. Private to "rechen": -. Private to "rechtens": st.
"rechen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "rechtens" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rechen" and "rechtens" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "rechen" or "rechtens" show up more?
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 "rechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rechtens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #661,832 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rechen" and "rechtens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recent vs rechen". 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 #661,832 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.