SaumvsSpurWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,490
“Saum” frequency rank
#2,469
“Spur” frequency rank
26959
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Saum Spur
Definition Einfassung eines Stoffstücks hinweisgebende Hinterlassenschaft

Where the eye mixes Saum and Spur

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Saum
4 ch
Spur

Look-alike desk: Saum vs Spur

A purely visual mix-up. Saum ([zaʊ̯m]) and Spur ([ʃpuːɐ̯]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Saum is recorded at frequency rank #24,490, classified as anoun, pronounced [zaʊ̯m]. Spur is at rank #2,469, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃpuːɐ̯].

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 26959, this pair ranks #1,809,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Saum vs Spur

Shared letters: su. Private to "Saum": am. Private to "Spur": pr.

"Saum" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Spur" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Saumsamu · saumm · ssaum · suam
  • Spurpsur · sppur · spru · spurr · sspur · supr

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Saum" and "Spur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([zaʊ̯m] versus [ʃpuːɐ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Saum" or "Spur"?
"Spur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,469 in our German list, against #24,490 for "Saum". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Saum" and "Spur" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Saum" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Spur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,809,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Saum" and "Spur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Saum vs shut". 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 #1,809,557 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