Which to use
“spannen” and “spinnen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,042
- “spannen” frequency rank
- #10,368
- “spinnen” frequency rank
- 29410
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spannen | spinnen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas mit Kraftaufwand glatt machen | einen Faden herstellen, Erstellung von Garn aus einzelnen Fasern |
Where the eye mixes spannen and spinnen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. spannen and spinnen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses spannen with spinnen
A purely visual mix-up. spannen ([ˈʃpanən]) and spinnen ([ˈʃpɪnən]) 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 a single letter - a in “spannen” becomes i in “spinnen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29410, 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]. spinnen is at rank #10,368, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpɪnən].
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 29410, this pair ranks #1,767,306 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spannen vs spinnen
Shared letters: enps. Private to "spannen": a. Private to "spinnen": i.
"spannen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "spinnen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spannen" for "spinnen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "spannen" vs "spinnen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "spannen" and "spinnen" 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 "spinnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,767,306 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spannen" and "spinnen" 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 #1,767,306 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.