SachenvsSachseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#709
“Sachen” frequency rank
#30,273
“Sachse” frequency rank
30982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sachen Sachse
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Sache in Sachsen (Deutschland) geborener oder dort auf Dauer lebender Mensch

Where the eye mixes Sachen and Sachse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Sachen
6 ch
Sachse

Visual trap between Sachen and Sachse

A purely visual mix-up. Sachen ([ˈzaxn̩]) and Sachse ([ˈzaksə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sachen is recorded at frequency rank #709, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaxn̩]. Sachse is at rank #30,273, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaksə].

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 30982, this pair ranks #1,737,144 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sachen vs Sachse

Shared letters: acehs. Private to "Sachen": n. Private to "Sachse": -.

"Sachen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Sachse" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sachenaschen · sacchen · sacehn · sachenn · sachhen · sachne · sahcen · scahen
  • Sachseaschse · sacchse · saches · sachhse · sachsse · sacshe · sahcse · scahse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Sachen" and "Sachse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzaxn̩] versus [ˈzaksə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Sachen" or "Sachse"?
"Sachen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #709 in our German list, against #30,273 for "Sachse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sachen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sachse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,737,144 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sachen" and "Sachse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sacher vs Sachse". 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 #1,737,144 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