rechenvsriecheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,966
“rechen” frequency rank
#24,097
“rieche” frequency rank
63063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rechen rieche
Definition etwas, häufig auf dem Boden Liegendes mit einem Rechen, einer Harke zusammentragen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs riechen

Where the eye mixes rechen and rieche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. rechen (CVCCVC) and rieche (CVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
rechen
6 ch
rieche

Why the eye confuses rechen with rieche

A purely visual mix-up. rechen ([ˈʁɛçn̩]) and rieche ([ˈʁiːçə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63063, 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]. rieche is at rank #24,097, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁiːçə].

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 63063, this pair ranks #690,194 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rechen vs rieche

Shared letters: cehr. Private to "rechen": n. Private to "rieche": i.

"rechen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "rieche" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rechen ← erchen · rcehen · recchen · recehn · rechhen · rehcen · rrechen
  • rieche ← ireche · ricehe · riecche · rieceh · riechhe · riehce · rrieche

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rechen" and "rieche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁɛçn̩] versus [ˈʁiːçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "rechen" vs "rieche" - which ranks higher?
"rieche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,097 in our German list, against #38,966 for "rechen". 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 "rechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rieche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #690,194 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rechen" and "rieche" 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 #690,194 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