RechtevsReckeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#891
“Rechte” frequency rank
#41,415
“Recke” frequency rank
42306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Rechte Recke
Definition die rechts gelegene Hand ungeschlachter, riesenhafter Krieger, Held aus Sagen

Where the eye mixes Rechte and Recke

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Rechte runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against Recke's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Rechte
5 ch
Recke

Visual trap between Rechte and Recke

A purely visual mix-up. Rechte ([ˈʁɛçtə]) and Recke ([ˈʁɛkə]) 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 42306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Rechte is recorded at frequency rank #891, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁɛçtə]. Recke is at rank #41,415, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁɛkə].

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 42306, this pair ranks #1,453,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Rechte vs Recke

Shared letters: cer. Private to "Rechte": ht. Private to "Recke": k.

"Rechte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "Recke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Rechte ← erchte · rcehte · recchte · rechet · rechhte · rechtte · recthe · rehcte
  • Recke ← ercke · rceke · reccke · recek · reckke · rekce · rrecke

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Rechte" for "Recke" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁɛçtə] versus [ˈʁɛkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Rechte" or "Recke"?
"Rechte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #891 in our German list, against #41,415 for "Recke". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Rechte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Recke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,453,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Rechte" and "Recke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rack vs Recke". 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 #1,453,484 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