SpeisevsSpendeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Speise” and “Spende” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,931
“Speise” frequency rank
#6,472
“Spende” frequency rank
31403
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Speise Spende
Definition Mahlzeit, zubereitetes Gericht eine freiwillige, unentgeltliche Gabe für einen wohltätigen Zweck in Form von Geld, Sach- oder Dienstleistungen

Where the eye mixes Speise and Spende

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Speise
6 ch
Spende

Look-alike desk: Speise vs Spende

A purely visual mix-up. Speise ([ˈʃpaɪ̯zə]) and Spende ([ˈʃpɛndə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31403, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Speise is recorded at frequency rank #24,931, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpaɪ̯zə]. Spende is at rank #6,472, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpɛndə].

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 31403, this pair ranks #1,728,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Speise vs Spende

Shared letters: eps. Private to "Speise": i. Private to "Spende": dn.

"Speise" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "Spende" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Speisepseise · sepise · speies · speisse · spesie · spiese · sppeise · sspeise
  • Spendepsende · sepnde · spedne · spendde · spened · spennde · spnede · sppende

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Speise" for "Spende" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃpaɪ̯zə] versus [ˈʃpɛndə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Speise" vs "Spende" - which ranks higher?
"Spende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,472 in our German list, against #24,931 for "Speise". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Speise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Spende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,728,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Speise" and "Spende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Speise vs steife". 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 #1,728,809 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