Which to use
“rechten” is a verb and “rechtens” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,090
- “rechten” frequency rank
- #24,893
- “rechtens” frequency rank
- 25983
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rechten | rechtens |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich (verbal) mit jemandem über oder um etwas streiten (um sein Recht zu behaupten); für sein Recht einstehen, sein Recht von jemandem fordern | mit dem gültigen Recht vereinbar |
Where the eye mixes rechten and rechtens
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. rechten 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.
Why the eye confuses rechten with rechtens
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rechten is [ˈʁɛçtn̩] while rechtens is [ˈʁɛçtn̩s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “rechten” sits inside “rechtens”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rechten is recorded at frequency rank #1,090, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɛçtn̩]. 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 25983, this pair ranks #1,825,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rechten vs rechtens
Shared letters: cehnrt. Private to "rechten": -. Private to "rechtens": s.
"rechten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "rechtens" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rechten" and "rechtens" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "rechten" or "rechtens" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "rechten" and "rechtens" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "rechten" 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 #1,825,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rechten" 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 #1,825,027 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.