Which to use
“spärlich” is an adjective and “sprich” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,776
- “spärlich” frequency rank
- #3,998
- “sprich” frequency rank
- 25774
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spärlich | sprich |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in geringen Mengen, wenig | 2. Person Singular Präsens Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs sprechen |
Where the eye mixes spärlich and sprich
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. spärlich runs 8 letters (CCVCCVCC) against sprich's 6 (CCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: spärlich vs sprich
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spärlich is [ˈʃpɛːɐ̯lɪç] while sprich is [ʃpʁɪç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25774, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spärlich is recorded at frequency rank #21,776, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpɛːɐ̯lɪç]. sprich is at rank #3,998, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpʁɪç].
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 25774, this pair ranks #1,828,166 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spärlich vs sprich
Shared letters: chiprs. Private to "spärlich": lä. Private to "sprich": -.
"spärlich" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC · "sprich" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sprich ← psrich · spirch · spprich · sprcih · spricch · sprichh · sprihc · sprrich
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spärlich" for "sprich" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "spärlich" or "sprich" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "spärlich" and "sprich" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "spärlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sprich" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,828,166 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spärlich" and "sprich" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sparbuch vs spärlich". 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 #1,828,166 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.