Which to use
“Speer” is a noun and “spies” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,217
- “Speer” frequency rank
- #43,504
- “spies” frequency rank
- 58721
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Speer | spies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Waffe zum Werfen und Stechen, bestehend aus einer Stange mit einer Spitze (meist aus Metall oder Stein) an einem Ende; leichter als die nur zum Stechen bestimmte Lanze | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs speisen |
Where the eye mixes Speer and spies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Speer and spies follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Speer and spies
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Speer is [ʃpeːɐ̯] while spies is [ʃpiːs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58721, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Speer is recorded at frequency rank #15,217, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃpeːɐ̯]. spies is at rank #43,504, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpiːs].
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 58721, this pair ranks #851,828 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Speer vs spies
Shared letters: eps. Private to "Speer": r. Private to "spies": i.
"Speer" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "spies" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Speer" and "spies" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Speer" vs "spies" - which ranks higher?
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 "Speer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #851,828 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Speer" and "spies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Skier vs spies". 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 #851,828 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.