Which to use
“reichten” and “richten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,527
- “reichten” frequency rank
- #3,275
- “richten” frequency rank
- 19802
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reichten | richten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs reichen | etwas Krummes gerade machen, geradebiegen, in eine senkrechte Stellung bringen |
Where the eye mixes reichten and richten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. reichten runs 8 letters (CVVCCCVC) against richten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between reichten and richten
A purely visual mix-up. reichten ([ˈʁaɪ̯çtn̩]) and richten ([ˈʁɪçtn̩]) 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 19802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reichten is recorded at frequency rank #16,527, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʁaɪ̯çtn̩]. richten is at rank #3,275, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʁɪçtn̩].
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 19802, this pair ranks #1,904,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reichten vs richten
Shared letters: cehinrt. Private to "reichten": -. Private to "richten": -.
"reichten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC · "richten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "reichten" and "richten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "reichten" or "richten" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "reichten" and "richten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reichten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "richten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,904,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reichten" and "richten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reichten vs reinsten". 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 #1,904,437 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.