Which to use
“Gespann” is a noun and “gespannte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,581
- “Gespann” frequency rank
- #48,930
- “gespannte” frequency rank
- 79511
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gespann | gespannte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mehrere mittels eines Geschirrs miteinander verbundene Zugtiere (etwa Pferde, Ochsen oder Hunde) | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gespannt |
Where the eye mixes Gespann and gespannte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Gespann runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against gespannte's 9 (CVCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Gespann with gespannte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gespann is [ɡəˈʃpan] while gespannte is [ɡəˈʃpantə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Gespann” sits inside “gespannte”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Gespann is recorded at frequency rank #30,581, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈʃpan]. gespannte is at rank #48,930, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃpantə].
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 79511, this pair ranks #214,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Gespann vs gespannte
Shared letters: aegnps. Private to "Gespann": -. Private to "gespannte": t.
"Gespann" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "gespannte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Gespann" for "gespannte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Gespann" or "gespannte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Gespann" and "gespannte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Gespann" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gespannte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #214,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gespann" and "gespannte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gescannt vs gespannte". 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 #214,930 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.