Which to use
“spanne” and “spannen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,946
- “spanne” frequency rank
- #19,042
- “spannen” frequency rank
- 46988
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spanne | spannen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spannen | etwas mit Kraftaufwand glatt machen |
Where the eye mixes spanne and spannen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. spanne runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against spannen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: spanne vs spannen
A purely visual mix-up. spanne ([ˈʃpanə]) and spannen ([ˈʃpanən]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “spanne” sits inside “spannen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spanne is recorded at frequency rank #27,946, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpanə]. spannen is at rank #19,042, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpanən].
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 46988, this pair ranks #1,300,053 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spanne vs spannen
Shared letters: aenps. Private to "spanne": -. Private to "spannen": -.
"spanne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "spannen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spanne" and "spannen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "spanne" vs "spannen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "spanne" and "spannen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "spanne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spannen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,300,053 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spanne" and "spannen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spanne vs staune". 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 #1,300,053 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.