sparvsSpäthWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: spar is a verb, Späth is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“spar” is a verb and “Späth” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,942
“spar” frequency rank
#47,741
“Späth” frequency rank
58683
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spar Späth
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sparen deutscher Nachname, Familienname

Letter map: spar vs Späth

Shared letters muted; letters that set spar and Späth apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
spar
5 ch
Späth

Grammar separator: spar vs Späth

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: spar is averb and Späthaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58683, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spar is recorded at frequency rank #10,942, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃpaːɐ̯]. Späth is at rank #47,741, tagged as aname, pronounced […].

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 58683, this pair ranks #853,286 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of spar vs Späth

Shared letters: ps. Private to "spar": ar. Private to "Späth": htä.

"spar" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Späth" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sparpsar · sapr · sparr · sppar · spra · sspar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "spar" for "Späth" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "spar" is a verb and "Späth" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "spar" or "Späth"?
"spar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,942 in our German list, against #47,741 for "Späth". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "spar" vs "Späth" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "spar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Späth" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #853,286 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spar" and "Späth" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs Späth". 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 #853,286 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