sachtvsstichtConfusable pair

Quick tell: sacht is a adjective, sticht is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sacht” is an adjective and “sticht” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,102
“sacht” frequency rank
#13,948
“sticht” frequency rank
56050
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sacht sticht
Definition sehr schwach ausgeprägt oder auch sehr langsam und deshalb kaum zu merken 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stechen

Where the eye mixes sacht and sticht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sacht runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against sticht's 6 (CCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
sacht
6 ch
sticht

Why the eye confuses sacht with sticht

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sacht is [zaxt] while sticht is [ʃtɪçt]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56050, 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]. sticht is at rank #13,948, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪçt].

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 56050, this pair ranks #955,563 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sacht vs sticht

Shared letters: chst. Private to "sacht": a. Private to "sticht": i.

"sacht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "sticht" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sacht ← ascht · saccht · sachht · sachtt · sacth · sahct · scaht · ssacht
  • sticht ← sitcht · ssticht · stciht · sticcht · stichht · stichtt · sticth · stihct

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sacht" and "sticht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sacht" is an adjective and "sticht" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "sacht" vs "sticht" - which ranks higher?
"sticht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,948 in our German list, against #42,102 for "sacht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sacht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sticht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #955,563 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sacht" and "sticht" 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 #955,563 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