SachevsSäckenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#495
“Sache” frequency rank
#39,655
“Säcken” frequency rank
40150
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sache Säcken
Definition einzelner Gegenstand oder eine Gruppe von Dingen, die einer Person oder Angelegenheit zugehörig sind Dativ Plural des Substantivs Sack

Where the eye mixes Sache and Säcken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Sache
6 ch
Säcken

Look-alike desk: Sache vs Säcken

A purely visual mix-up. Sache ([ˈzaxə]) and Säcken ([ˈzɛkn̩]) 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 40150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sache is recorded at frequency rank #495, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaxə]. Säcken is at rank #39,655, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɛkn̩].

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 40150, this pair ranks #1,516,658 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sache vs Säcken

Shared letters: ces. Private to "Sache": ah. Private to "Säcken": knä.

"Sache" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Säcken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sachesacche · saceh · sachhe · sahce · scahe · ssache

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Sache" for "Säcken" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzaxə] versus [ˈzɛkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Sache" vs "Säcken" - which ranks higher?
"Sache" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #495 in our German list, against #39,655 for "Säcken". 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 "Sache" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Säcken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,516,658 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sache" and "Säcken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Säcken vs Sake". 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 #1,516,658 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