Which to use
“spanne” is a verb and “Spione” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,946
- “spanne” frequency rank
- #24,932
- “Spione” frequency rank
- 52878
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spanne | Spione |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spannen | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Spion |
Where the eye mixes spanne and Spione
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. spanne (CCVCCV) and Spione (CCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses spanne with Spione
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spanne is [ˈʃpanə] while Spione is [ʃpiˈoːnə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 52878, 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]. Spione is at rank #24,932, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃpiˈoːnə].
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 52878, this pair ranks #1,079,759 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spanne vs Spione
Shared letters: enps. Private to "spanne": a. Private to "Spione": io.
"spanne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "Spione" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spanne" for "Spione" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "spanne" or "Spione" show up more?
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 "Spione" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,079,759 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spanne" and "Spione" 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 #1,079,759 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.