streichevsStreicherWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: streiche is a verb, Streicher is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“streiche” is a verb and “Streicher” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,631
“streiche” frequency rank
#22,910
“Streicher” frequency rank
49541
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature streiche Streicher
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs streichen jemand, der ein Streichinstrument spielt

Where the eye mixes streiche and Streicher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. streiche runs 8 letters (CCCVVCCV) against Streicher's 9 (CCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
streiche
9 ch
Streicher

Why the eye confuses streiche with Streicher

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: streiche is [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çə] while Streicher is [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “streiche” sits inside “Streicher”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49541, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

streiche is recorded at frequency rank #26,631, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çə]. Streicher is at rank #22,910, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çɐ].

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 49541, this pair ranks #1,207,628 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of streiche vs Streicher

Shared letters: cehirst. Private to "streiche": -. Private to "Streicher": -.

"streiche" · 8 letters · shape CCCVVCCV  ·  "Streicher" · 9 letters · shape CCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • streiche ← srteiche · sstreiche · steriche · strecihe · streicche · streiceh · streichhe · streihce
  • Streicher ← srteicher · sstreicher · stericher · streciher · streiccher · streicehr · streicherr · streichher

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "streiche" and "Streicher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "streiche" is a verb and "Streicher" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "streiche" or "Streicher"?
"Streicher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,910 in our German list, against #26,631 for "streiche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "streiche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Streicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,207,628 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "streiche" and "Streicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Streicher vs Streiter". 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 #1,207,628 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