scalavsscansWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#24,908
“scala” frequency rank
#37,182
“scans” frequency rank
62090
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scala scans
Definition die Skala 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs scan

Letter map: scala vs scans

Shared letters muted; letters that set scala and scans apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
scala
5 ch
scans

Part-of-speech tell for scala / scans

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: scala is anoun and scansaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scala is recorded at frequency rank #24,908, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. scans is at rank #37,182, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 62090, this pair ranks #725,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of scala vs scans

Shared letters: acs. Private to "scala": l. Private to "scans": n.

"scala" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "scans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scalacsala · sacla · scaal · scalla · sccala · sclaa · sscala
  • scanscsans · sacns · scanns · scanss · scasn · sccans · scnas · sscans

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "scala" for "scans" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scala" is a noun and "scans" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "scala" vs "scans" - which ranks higher?
"scala" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,908 in our German list, against #37,182 for "scans". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "scala" and "scans".

  • Full dictionary entry for "scala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "scans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #725,524 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scala" and "scans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs scans". 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 #725,524 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