StrichvsStricheWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,029
“Strich” frequency rank
#33,319
“Striche” frequency rank
38348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Strich Striche
Definition eine in der Regel von einem Schreibgerät gezogene meist kurze unregelmäßige Linie Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Strich

Where the eye mixes Strich and Striche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Strich
7 ch
Striche

Why the eye confuses Strich with Striche

A purely visual mix-up. Strich ([ʃtʁɪç]) and Striche ([ˈʃtʁɪçə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Strich” sits inside “Striche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Strich is recorded at frequency rank #5,029, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtʁɪç]. Striche is at rank #33,319, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɪçə].

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 38348, this pair ranks #1,566,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Strich vs Striche

Shared letters: chirst. Private to "Strich": -. Private to "Striche": e.

"Strich" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "Striche" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Strichsrtich · sstrich · stirch · strcih · stricch · strichh · strihc · strrich
  • Strichesrtiche · sstriche · stirche · strcihe · stricche · striceh · strichhe · strihce

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Strich" for "Striche" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtʁɪç] versus [ˈʃtʁɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Strich" or "Striche"?
"Strich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,029 in our German list, against #33,319 for "Striche". 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 "Strich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Striche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,566,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Strich" and "Striche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stichen vs Striche". 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 #1,566,316 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