SachsevssachteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Sachse is a noun, sachte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Sachse” is a noun and “sachte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,273
“Sachse” frequency rank
#41,435
“sachte” frequency rank
71708
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sachse sachte
Definition in Sachsen (Deutschland) geborener oder dort auf Dauer lebender Mensch Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs sacht

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
Sachse
6 ch
sachte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Sachse is [ˈzaksə] while sachte is [ˈzaxtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “Sachse” becomes t in “sachte”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sachse is recorded at frequency rank #30,273, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzaksə]. sachte is at rank #41,435, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈzaxtə].

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 71708, this pair ranks #409,106 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Sachse vs sachte

Shared letters: acehs. Private to "Sachse": -. Private to "sachte": t.

"Sachse" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "sachte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sachseaschse · sacchse · saches · sachhse · sachsse · sacshe · sahcse · scahse
  • sachteaschte · sacchte · sachet · sachhte · sachtte · sacthe · sahcte · scahte

Frequency comparison

Sachse#30,273
sachte#41,435

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Sachse" and "sachte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Sachse" is a noun and "sachte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Sachse" or "sachte"?
"Sachse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,273 in our German list, against #41,435 for "sachte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Sachse vs sachte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Sachse”; for an adjective, it's “sachte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Sachse” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list