spannendvsspannendesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“spannend” and “spannendes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,076
“spannend” frequency rank
#12,594
“spannendes” frequency rank
15670
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spannend spannendes
Definition Spannung (Erregung, Neugier) hervorrufend, oft ein (meist) angenehmes Gefühl des Grusels oder der gebannten Faszination erzeugend Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs spannend

Where the eye mixes spannend and spannendes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. spannend runs 8 letters (CCVCCVCC) against spannendes's 10 (CCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
spannend
10 ch
spannendes

Why the eye confuses spannend with spannendes

A purely visual mix-up. spannend ([ˈʃpanənt]) and spannendes ([ˈʃpanəndəs]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “spannend” sits inside “spannendes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spannend is recorded at frequency rank #3,076, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpanənt]. spannendes is at rank #12,594, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpanəndəs].

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 15670, this pair ranks #1,942,062 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of spannend vs spannendes

Shared letters: adenps. Private to "spannend": -. Private to "spannendes": -.

"spannend" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "spannendes" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • spannend ← psannend · sapnnend · spanend · spanennd · spannedn · spannendd · spannennd · spannned
  • spannendes ← psannendes · sapnnendes · spanendes · spanenndes · spannednes · spannenddes · spannendess · spannendse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "spannend" for "spannendes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃpanənt] versus [ˈʃpanəndəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "spannend" vs "spannendes" - which ranks higher?
"spannend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,076 in our German list, against #12,594 for "spannendes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "spannend" and "spannendes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "spannend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spannendes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,942,062 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spannend" and "spannendes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spannend vs Spanner". 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 #1,942,062 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list