SachevssuchteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#495
“Sache” frequency rank
#4,739
“suchte” frequency rank
5234
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sache suchte
Definition einzelner Gegenstand oder eine Gruppe von Dingen, die einer Person oder Angelegenheit zugehörig sind 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs suchen

Where the eye mixes Sache and suchte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Sache
6 ch
suchte

Why the eye confuses Sache with suchte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Sache is [ˈzaxə] while suchte is [ˈzuːxtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 5234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sache is recorded at frequency rank #495, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaxə]. suchte is at rank #4,739, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzuːxtə].

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 5234, this pair ranks #1,995,399 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sache vs suchte

Shared letters: cehs. Private to "Sache": a. Private to "suchte": tu.

"Sache" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "suchte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sachesacche · saceh · sachhe · sahce · scahe · ssache
  • suchtescuhte · ssuchte · succhte · suchet · suchhte · suchtte · sucthe · suhcte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Sache" and "suchte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Sache" is a noun and "suchte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Sache" or "suchte"?
"Sache" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #495 in our German list, against #4,739 for "suchte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Sache" and "suchte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sache" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "suchte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,995,399 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sache" and "suchte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sache 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 #1,995,399 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