Which to use
“rechen” and “richten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,966
- “rechen” frequency rank
- #3,275
- “richten” frequency rank
- 42241
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rechen | richten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas, häufig auf dem Boden Liegendes mit einem Rechen, einer Harke zusammentragen | etwas Krummes gerade machen, geradebiegen, in eine senkrechte Stellung bringen |
Where the eye mixes rechen and richten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. rechen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against richten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: rechen vs richten
A purely visual mix-up. rechen ([ˈʁɛçn̩]) and richten ([ˈʁɪçtn̩]) 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 42241, 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]. richten is at rank #3,275, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɪçtn̩].
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 42241, this pair ranks #1,455,401 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rechen vs richten
Shared letters: cehnr. Private to "rechen": -. Private to "richten": it.
"rechen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "richten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rechen" for "richten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "rechen" vs "richten" - which ranks higher?
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 "richten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,455,401 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rechen" and "richten" 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 #1,455,401 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.