sparevsSpäthWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#17,136
“spare” frequency rank
#47,741
“Späth” frequency rank
64877
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spare Späth
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sparen deutscher Nachname, Familienname

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set spare and Späth apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
spare
5 ch
Späth

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: spare is averb and Späthaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64877, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spare is recorded at frequency rank #17,136, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpaːʁə]. 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 64877, this pair ranks #626,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of spare vs Späth

Shared letters: ps. Private to "spare": aer. Private to "Späth": htä.

"spare" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Späth" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sparepsare · sapre · spaer · sparre · sppare · sprae · sspare

Frequency comparison

spare#17,136
Späth#47,741

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "spare" and "Späth" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "spare" is a verb and "Späth" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "spare" or "Späth"?
"spare" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,136 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.

Remembering spare vs Späth

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “spare”; for a name, it's “Späth”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “spare” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list