singenvsspringenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,319
“singen” frequency rank
#4,306
“springen” frequency rank
6625
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature singen springen
Definition ein Lied (oder eine Melodie) mit der eigenen Stimme hervorbringen hochschnellen und sich ein kurzes Stück durch die Luft bewegen

Where the eye mixes singen and springen

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

6 ch
singen
8 ch
springen

Look-alike desk: singen vs springen

A purely visual mix-up. singen ([ˈzɪŋən]) and springen ([ˈʃpʁɪŋən]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6625, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

singen is recorded at frequency rank #2,319, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪŋən]. springen is at rank #4,306, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpʁɪŋən].

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 6625, this pair ranks #1,991,008 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of singen vs springen

Shared letters: egins. Private to "singen": -. Private to "springen": pr.

"singen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "springen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • singenisngen · signen · sinegn · singenn · singgen · singne · sinngen · snigen
  • springenpsringen · spirngen · sppringen · sprignen · sprinegn · springenn · springgen · springne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "singen" and "springen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɪŋən] versus [ˈʃpʁɪŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "singen" or "springen" show up more?
"singen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,319 in our German list, against #4,306 for "springen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "singen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "springen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,991,008 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "singen" and "springen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "springen vs springende". 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 #1,991,008 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