RechtvsriechstConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#227
“Recht” frequency rank
#42,767
“riechst” frequency rank
42994
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes Recht and riechst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Recht
7 ch
riechst

Look-alike desk: Recht vs riechst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Recht is [ʁɛçt] while riechst is [ʁiːçst]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Recht is recorded at frequency rank #227, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʁɛçt]. riechst is at rank #42,767, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʁiːçst].

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 42994, this pair ranks #1,431,901 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Recht vs riechst

Shared letters: cehrt. Private to "Recht": -. Private to "riechst": is.

"Recht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "riechst" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rechtercht · rceht · reccht · rechht · rechtt · recth · rehct · rrecht
  • riechstirechst · reichst · ricehst · riecchst · riechhst · riechsst · riechstt · riechts

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Recht" and "riechst" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Recht" is a noun and "riechst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Recht" vs "riechst" - which ranks higher?
"Recht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #227 in our German list, against #42,767 for "riechst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Recht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "riechst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,431,901 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Recht" and "riechst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rauchst vs riechst". 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 #1,431,901 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