Which to use
“sachte” is an adjective and “sagte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,435
- “sachte” frequency rank
- #311
- “sagte” frequency rank
- 41746
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sachte | sagte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs sacht | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sagen |
Where the eye mixes sachte and sagte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sachte with sagte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sachte is [ˈzaxtə] while sagte is [ˈzaːktə]. 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 41746, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sachte is recorded at frequency rank #41,435, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈzaxtə]. sagte is at rank #311, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzaːktə].
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 41746, this pair ranks #1,470,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sachte vs sagte
Shared letters: aest. Private to "sachte": ch. Private to "sagte": g.
"sachte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "sagte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sachte" and "sagte" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sachte" or "sagte"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "sachte" and "sagte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sachte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sagte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,470,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sachte" and "sagte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sacher vs sachte". 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 #1,470,356 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.