Which to use
“sacht” is an adjective and “Specht” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,102
- “sacht” frequency rank
- #28,394
- “Specht” frequency rank
- 70496
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sacht | Specht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sehr schwach ausgeprägt oder auch sehr langsam und deshalb kaum zu merken | ein Vogel aus der Familie der Spechte (zoologisch Picidae) mit hartem, langem Schnabel |
Where the eye mixes sacht and Specht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sacht runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against Specht's 6 (CCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses sacht with Specht
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sacht is [zaxt] while Specht is [ʃpɛçt]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70496, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sacht is recorded at frequency rank #42,102, classified as anadj, pronounced [zaxt]. Specht is at rank #28,394, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃpɛçt].
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 70496, this pair ranks #444,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sacht vs Specht
Shared letters: chst. Private to "sacht": a. Private to "Specht": ep.
"sacht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "Specht" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sacht" for "Specht" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sacht" or "Specht"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "sacht" and "Specht" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sacht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Specht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #444,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sacht" and "Specht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sacher vs sacht". 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 #444,611 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.