Which to use
“spannen” is a verb and “spannend” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,042
- “spannen” frequency rank
- #3,076
- “spannend” frequency rank
- 22118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spannen | spannend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas mit Kraftaufwand glatt machen | Spannung (Erregung, Neugier) hervorrufend, oft ein (meist) angenehmes Gefühl des Grusels oder der gebannten Faszination erzeugend |
Where the eye mixes spannen and spannend
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. spannen runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against spannend's 8 (CCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses spannen with spannend
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spannen is [ˈʃpanən] while spannend is [ˈʃpanənt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “spannen” sits inside “spannend”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spannen is recorded at frequency rank #19,042, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpanən]. spannend is at rank #3,076, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpanənt].
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 22118, this pair ranks #1,878,062 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spannen vs spannend
Shared letters: aenps. Private to "spannen": -. Private to "spannend": d.
"spannen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "spannend" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spannen" for "spannend" ever safe?
Frequency check: "spannen" vs "spannend" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "spannen" and "spannend" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "spannen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spannend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,878,062 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spannen" and "spannend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spange vs spannen". 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 #1,878,062 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.