Which to use
“spanne” and “spare” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,946
- “spanne” frequency rank
- #17,136
- “spare” frequency rank
- 45082
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spanne | spare |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spannen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sparen |
Where the eye mixes spanne and spare
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses spanne with spare
A purely visual mix-up. spanne ([ˈʃpanə]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45082, 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]. 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 45082, this pair ranks #1,365,101 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spanne vs spare
Shared letters: aeps. Private to "spanne": n. Private to "spare": r.
"spanne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "spare" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spanne" for "spare" ever safe?
Frequency check: "spanne" vs "spare" - 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 "spanne" 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 #1,365,101 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spanne" and "spare" 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 #1,365,101 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.