SpannervsSpinneConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#35,454
“Spanner” frequency rank
#13,945
“Spinne” frequency rank
49399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spanner Spinne
Definition jemand, der heimlich andere Personen beobachtet kleines achtbeiniges Tier, das häufig Fäden spinnt

Where the eye mixes Spanner and Spinne

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Spanner
6 ch
Spinne

Visual trap between Spanner and Spinne

A purely visual mix-up. Spanner ([ˈʃpanɐ]) and Spinne ([ˈʃpɪnə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spanner is recorded at frequency rank #35,454, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpanɐ]. Spinne is at rank #13,945, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpɪnə].

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 49399, this pair ranks #1,213,012 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Spanner vs Spinne

Shared letters: enps. Private to "Spanner": ar. Private to "Spinne": i.

"Spanner" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Spinne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spannerpsanner · sapnner · spanenr · spaner · spannerr · spannre · spnaner · sppanner
  • Spinnepsinne · sipnne · spine · spnine · sppinne · sspinne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Spanner" and "Spinne" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃpanɐ] versus [ˈʃpɪnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Spanner" or "Spinne"?
"Spinne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,945 in our German list, against #35,454 for "Spanner". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Spanner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Spinne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,213,012 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spanner" and "Spinne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spange 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 #1,213,012 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