SchachvsSchächteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Schach” and “Schächte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,526
“Schach” frequency rank
#42,799
“Schächte” frequency rank
50325
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schach Schächte
Definition strategisches Brettspiel für zwei Spieler, Kurzwort für Schachspiel Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Schacht

Where the eye mixes Schach and Schächte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Schach
8 ch
Schächte

Why the eye confuses Schach with Schächte

A purely visual mix-up. Schach ([ʃax]) and Schächte ([ˈʃɛçtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schach is recorded at frequency rank #7,526, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃax]. Schächte is at rank #42,799, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃɛçtə].

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 50325, this pair ranks #1,177,980 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Schach vs Schächte

Shared letters: chs. Private to "Schach": a. Private to "Schächte": etä.

"Schach" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "Schächte" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schachcshach · scahch · scchach · schacch · schachh · schahc · schcah · schhach

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schach" and "Schächte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʃax] versus [ˈʃɛçtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Schach" vs "Schächte" - which ranks higher?
"Schach" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,526 in our German list, against #42,799 for "Schächte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schächte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,177,980 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schach" and "Schächte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sachte vs Schächte". 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 #1,177,980 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