SpäthvsSpatzConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#47,741
“Späth” frequency rank
#27,947
“Spatz” frequency rank
75688
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Späth Spatz
Definition deutscher Nachname, Familienname der Sperling (Passer), ein körnerfressender Singvogel, speziell der Haussperling

Letter map: Späth vs Spatz

Shared letters muted; letters that set Späth and Spatz apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. Späth and Spatz follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Späth
5 ch
Spatz

Part-of-speech tell for Späth / Spatz

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Späth is aname and Spatzanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75688, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Späth is recorded at frequency rank #47,741, classified as aname, pronounced […]. Spatz is at rank #27,947, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃpat͡s].

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 75688, this pair ranks #301,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Späth vs Spatz

Shared letters: pst. Private to "Späth": hä. Private to "Spatz": az.

"Späth" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Spatz" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spatz ← psatz · saptz · spattz · spatzz · spazt · sppatz · sptaz · sspatz

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Späth" for "Spatz" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Späth" is a name and "Spatz" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Späth" vs "Spatz" - which ranks higher?
"Spatz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,947 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

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Späth" and "Spatz".

  • Full dictionary entry for "Späth" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Spatz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #301,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Späth" and "Spatz" 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 #301,802 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