SpeichenvsspeichernConfusable pair

Quick tell: Speichen is a noun, speichern is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Speichen” is a noun and “speichern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,009
“Speichen” frequency rank
#8,784
“speichern” frequency rank
55793
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Speichen speichern
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Speiche einen Vorrat von etwas anlegen, damit man etwas zur Verfügung hat

Where the eye mixes Speichen and speichern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Speichen
9 ch
speichern

Why the eye confuses Speichen with speichern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Speichen is [ˈʃpaɪ̯çn̩] while speichern is [ˈʃpaɪ̯çɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55793, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Speichen is recorded at frequency rank #47,009, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpaɪ̯çn̩]. speichern is at rank #8,784, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpaɪ̯çɐn].

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 55793, this pair ranks #965,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Speichen vs speichern

Shared letters: cehinps. Private to "Speichen": -. Private to "speichern": r.

"Speichen" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC  ·  "speichern" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Speichenpseichen · sepichen · specihen · speicchen · speicehn · speichenn · speichhen · speichne
  • speichernpseichern · sepichern · specihern · speicchern · speicehrn · speichenr · speichernn · speicherrn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Speichen" for "speichern" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Speichen" is a noun and "speichern" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Speichen" vs "speichern" - which ranks higher?
"speichern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,784 in our German list, against #47,009 for "Speichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Speichen" and "speichern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Speichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "speichern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #965,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Speichen" and "speichern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Speichen vs Stichen". 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 #965,542 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