Which to use
“spacken” is a verb and “Spaten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,829
- “spacken” frequency rank
- #27,063
- “Spaten” frequency rank
- 69892
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spacken | Spaten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | spachen | schaufelähnliches Werkzeug zum Umgraben der Erde |
Where the eye mixes spacken and Spaten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. spacken runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against Spaten's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: spacken vs Spaten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spacken is [ˈʃpakn̩] while Spaten is [ˈʃpaːtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69892, 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]. Spaten is at rank #27,063, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpaːtn̩].
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 69892, this pair ranks #462,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of spacken vs Spaten
Shared letters: aenps. Private to "spacken": ck. Private to "Spaten": t.
"spacken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "Spaten" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spacken" for "Spaten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "spacken" vs "Spaten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "spacken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Spaten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #462,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spacken" and "Spaten" 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 #462,813 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.