Which to use
“spanne” is a verb and “Spässe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,946
- “spanne” frequency rank
- #44,242
- “Spässe” frequency rank
- 72188
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spanne | Spässe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spannen | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Spass |
Where the eye mixes spanne and Spässe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: spanne vs Spässe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spanne is [ˈʃpanə] while Spässe is [ˈʃpɛːsə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72188, 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]. Spässe is at rank #44,242, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpɛːsə].
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 72188, this pair ranks #395,293 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of spanne vs Spässe
Shared letters: eps. Private to "spanne": an. Private to "Spässe": ä.
"spanne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "Spässe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- spanne ← psanne · sapnne · spane · spnane · sppanne · sspanne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spanne" for "Spässe" ever safe?
Frequency check: "spanne" vs "Spässe" - which ranks higher?
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 "spanne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Spässe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #395,293 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spanne" and "Spässe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sparst vs Spässe". 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 #395,293 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.