SpanischvsspanischeTell them apart

Quick tell: Spanisch is a noun, spanische is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Spanisch” is a noun and “spanische” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,936
“Spanisch” frequency rank
#5,651
“spanische” frequency rank
10587
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spanisch spanische
Definition romanische Sprache, die in Spanien und großen Teilen Nord-, Süd- und Mittelamerikas gesprochen wird Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs spanisch

Where the eye mixes Spanisch and spanische

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Spanisch
9 ch
spanische

Look-alike desk: Spanisch vs spanische

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Spanisch is [ˈʃpaːnɪʃ] while spanische is [ˈʃpaːnɪʃə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Spanisch” sits inside “spanische”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10587, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spanisch is recorded at frequency rank #4,936, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpaːnɪʃ]. spanische is at rank #5,651, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpaːnɪʃə].

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 10587, this pair ranks #1,974,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Spanisch vs spanische

Shared letters: achinps. Private to "Spanisch": -. Private to "spanische": e.

"Spanisch" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCC  ·  "spanische" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spanischpsanisch · sapnisch · spainsch · spanicsh · spaniscch · spanischh · spanishc · spanissch
  • spanischepsanische · sapnische · spainsche · spanicshe · spaniscche · spanisceh · spanischhe · spanishce

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Spanisch" and "spanische" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Spanisch" is a noun and "spanische" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Spanisch" vs "spanische" - which ranks higher?
"Spanisch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,936 in our German list, against #5,651 for "spanische". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Spanisch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spanische" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,974,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spanisch" and "spanische" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spanische vs szenische". 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 #1,974,405 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