Which to use
“shows” and “spiels” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,130
- “shows” frequency rank
- #5,427
- “spiels” frequency rank
- 13557
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shows | spiels |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs show | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spiel |
Letter map: shows vs spiels
Shared letters muted; letters that set shows and spiels apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. shows runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against spiels's 6 (CCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Pair insight - shows / spiels
shows and spiels are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13557, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shows is recorded at frequency rank #8,130, classified as averb, pronounced […]. spiels is at rank #5,427, 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 13557, this pair ranks #1,957,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of shows vs spiels
Shared letters: s. Private to "shows": how. Private to "spiels": eilp.
"shows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "spiels" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "shows" and "spiels" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "shows" or "spiels" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "shows" and "spiels". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "shows" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spiels" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,957,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shows" and "spiels" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs shows". 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 #1,957,230 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.