SachenvsspackenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#709
“Sachen” frequency rank
#42,829
“spacken” frequency rank
43538
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sachen spacken
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Sache spachen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Sachen and spacken apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Sachen
7 ch
spacken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Sachen is [ˈzaxn̩] while spacken is [ˈʃpakn̩]. 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 43538, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sachen is recorded at frequency rank #709, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaxn̩]. spacken is at rank #42,829, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpakn̩].

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 43538, this pair ranks #1,414,937 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Sachen vs spacken

Shared letters: acens. Private to "Sachen": h. Private to "spacken": kp.

"Sachen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "spacken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sachenaschen · sacchen · sacehn · sachenn · sachhen · sachne · sahcen · scahen
  • spackenpsacken · sapcken · spaccken · spacekn · spackenn · spackken · spackne · spakcen

Frequency comparison

Sachen#709
spacken#42,829

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Sachen" and "spacken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Sachen" is a noun and "spacken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Sachen" or "spacken"?
"Sachen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #709 in our German list, against #42,829 for "spacken". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Sachen vs spacken

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Sachen”; for a verb, it's “spacken”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Sachen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list