rechnenvsrechtensWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: rechnen is a verb, rechtens is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“rechnen” is a verb and “rechtens” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,262
“rechnen” frequency rank
#24,893
“rechtens” frequency rank
27155
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rechnen rechtens
Definition Zahlen logisch verknüpfen, Mathematik anwenden mit dem gültigen Recht vereinbar

Where the eye mixes rechnen and rechtens

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. rechnen runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against rechtens's 8 (CVCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
rechnen
8 ch
rechtens

Why the eye confuses rechnen with rechtens

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rechnen is [ˈʁɛçnən] while rechtens is [ˈʁɛçtn̩s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 27155, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rechnen is recorded at frequency rank #2,262, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɛçnən]. 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 27155, this pair ranks #1,806,421 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of rechnen vs rechtens

Shared letters: cehnr. Private to "rechnen": -. Private to "rechtens": st.

"rechnen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "rechtens" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rechnen ← erchnen · rcehnen · recchnen · rechenn · rechhnen · rechnenn · rechnne · rechnnen
  • rechtens ← erchtens · rcehtens · recchtens · rechetns · rechhtens · rechtenns · rechtenss · rechtesn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rechnen" and "rechtens" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rechnen" is a verb and "rechtens" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "rechnen" or "rechtens" show up more?
"rechnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,262 in our German list, against #24,893 for "rechtens". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "rechnen" 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 #1,806,421 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rechnen" and "rechtens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rechtem vs rechtens". 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 #1,806,421 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