Which to use
“Spanner” is a noun and “spinnen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,454
- “Spanner” frequency rank
- #10,368
- “spinnen” frequency rank
- 45822
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Spanner | spinnen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemand, der heimlich andere Personen beobachtet | einen Faden herstellen, Erstellung von Garn aus einzelnen Fasern |
Where the eye mixes Spanner and spinnen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Spanner vs spinnen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Spanner is [ˈʃpanɐ] while spinnen is [ˈʃpɪnən]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45822, 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]. 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 45822, this pair ranks #1,340,071 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Spanner vs spinnen
Shared letters: enps. Private to "Spanner": ar. Private to "spinnen": i.
"Spanner" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "spinnen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Spanner" and "spinnen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Spanner" vs "spinnen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Spanner" 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 #1,340,071 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Spanner" and "spinnen" 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 #1,340,071 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.