Which to use
“speisen” is a verb and “Spesen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,989
- “speisen” frequency rank
- #36,028
- “Spesen” frequency rank
- 44017
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | speisen | Spesen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | essen, Nahrung zu sich nehmen | Kosten, die in Ausübung einer beruflichen oder geschäftlichen Tätigkeit entstanden sind |
Where the eye mixes speisen and Spesen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. speisen runs 7 letters (CCVVCVC) against Spesen's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: speisen vs Spesen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: speisen is [ˈʃpaɪ̯zn̩] while Spesen is [ˈʃpeːzn̩]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44017, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
speisen is recorded at frequency rank #7,989, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpaɪ̯zn̩]. Spesen is at rank #36,028, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpeːzn̩].
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 44017, this pair ranks #1,399,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of speisen vs Spesen
Shared letters: enps. Private to "speisen": i. Private to "Spesen": -.
"speisen" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "Spesen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "speisen" and "Spesen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "speisen" vs "Spesen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "speisen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Spesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,399,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "speisen" and "Spesen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spesen vs Stelen". 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 #1,399,716 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.