Which to use
“spare” and “spüre” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,136
- “spare” frequency rank
- #11,758
- “spüre” frequency rank
- 28894
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spare | spüre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sparen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spüren |
Where the eye mixes spare and spüre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses spare with spüre
A purely visual mix-up. spare ([ˈʃpaːʁə]) and spüre ([ˈʃpyːʁə]) 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 a single letter - a in “spare” becomes ü in “spüre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28894, 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]. spüre is at rank #11,758, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpyːʁə].
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 28894, this pair ranks #1,776,681 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spare vs spüre
Shared letters: eprs. Private to "spare": a. Private to "spüre": ü.
"spare" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "spüre" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- spare ← psare · sapre · spaer · sparre · sppare · sprae · sspare
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spare" and "spüre" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "spare" or "spüre"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "spare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spüre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,776,681 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spare" and "spüre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sire vs spare". 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 #1,776,681 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.