SignalevsSingleTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,665
“Signale” frequency rank
#2,320
“Single” frequency rank
9985
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Signale Single
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Signal Mensch, der ohne feste Beziehung zu einer anderen Person und ohne minderjähriges Kind im Haushalt lebt; jemand, der alleinstehend ist

Where the eye mixes Signale and Single

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Signale runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against Single's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Signale
6 ch
Single

Look-alike desk: Signale vs Single

A purely visual mix-up. Signale ([zɪˈɡnaːlə]) and Single ([ˈsɪŋl̩]) 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 9985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Signale is recorded at frequency rank #7,665, classified as anoun, pronounced [zɪˈɡnaːlə]. Single is at rank #2,320, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsɪŋl̩].

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 9985, this pair ranks #1,977,332 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Signale vs Single

Shared letters: egilns. Private to "Signale": a. Private to "Single": -.

"Signale" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "Single" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Signale ← isgnale · sginale · siganle · siggnale · signael · signalle · signlae · signnale
  • Single ← isngle · signle · singel · singgle · singlle · sinlge · sinngle · snigle

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Signale" for "Single" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([zɪˈɡnaːlə] versus [ˈsɪŋl̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Signale" vs "Single" - which ranks higher?
"Single" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,320 in our German list, against #7,665 for "Signale". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Signale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Single" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,977,332 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Signale" and "Single" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Signale vs signals". 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 #1,977,332 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