sendenvsspendenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,159
“senden” frequency rank
#3,154
“spenden” frequency rank
7313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature senden spenden
Definition etwas übermitteln etwas für einen guten Zweck verschenken, eine Spende geben, positive Gefühle und Wertung austeilen

Where the eye mixes senden and spenden

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

6 ch
senden
7 ch
spenden

Visual trap between senden and spenden

A purely visual mix-up. senden ([ˈzɛndn̩]) and spenden ([ˈʃpɛndn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

senden is recorded at frequency rank #4,159, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɛndn̩]. spenden is at rank #3,154, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpɛndn̩].

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 7313, this pair ranks #1,988,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of senden vs spenden

Shared letters: dens. Private to "senden": -. Private to "spenden": p.

"senden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "spenden" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sendenesnden · sednen · sendden · sendenn · sendne · senedn · sennden · sneden
  • spendenpsenden · sepnden · spednen · spendden · spendenn · spendne · spenedn · spennden

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "senden" for "spenden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɛndn̩] versus [ˈʃpɛndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "senden" or "spenden"?
"spenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,154 in our German list, against #4,159 for "senden". 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 "senden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,988,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "senden" and "spenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "senden vs sendete". 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 #1,988,617 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