Which to use
“skate” and “spare” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,585
- “skate” frequency rank
- #17,136
- “spare” frequency rank
- 62721
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | skate | spare |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs skaten | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sparen |
Where the eye mixes skate and spare
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. skate and spare follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses skate with spare
A purely visual mix-up. skate ([ˈskɛɪ̯tə]) and spare ([ˈʃpaːʁə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62721, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
skate is recorded at frequency rank #45,585, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈskɛɪ̯tə]. spare is at rank #17,136, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpaːʁə].
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 62721, this pair ranks #702,560 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of skate vs spare
Shared letters: aes. Private to "skate": kt. Private to "spare": pr.
"skate" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "spare" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "skate" for "spare" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "skate" or "spare" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "skate" and "spare" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "skate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spare" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #702,560 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "skate" and "spare" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "skate vs Späth". 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 #702,560 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.