Which to use
“spacken” and “spalten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,829
- “spacken” frequency rank
- #10,567
- “spalten” frequency rank
- 53396
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spacken | spalten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | spachen | mit einem Instrument der Länge nach teilen |
Where the eye mixes spacken and spalten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. spacken and spalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: spacken vs spalten
A purely visual mix-up. spacken ([ˈʃpakn̩]) and spalten ([ˈʃpaltn̩]) 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 53396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spacken is recorded at frequency rank #42,829, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpakn̩]. spalten is at rank #10,567, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpaltn̩].
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 53396, this pair ranks #1,059,652 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spacken vs spalten
Shared letters: aenps. Private to "spacken": ck. Private to "spalten": lt.
"spacken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "spalten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spacken" and "spalten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "spacken" or "spalten" show up more?
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 "spacken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,059,652 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spacken" and "spalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Säcken vs spacken". 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 #1,059,652 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.