SpendernvsspendeteConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#44,927
“Spendern” frequency rank
#27,496
“spendete” frequency rank
72423
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spendern spendete
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Spender 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs spenden

Where the eye mixes Spendern and spendete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Spendern (CCVCCVCC) and spendete (CCVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
Spendern
8 ch
spendete

Why the eye confuses Spendern with spendete

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Spendern is [ˈʃpɛndɐn] while spendete is [ˈʃpɛndətə]. 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 72423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spendern is recorded at frequency rank #44,927, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpɛndɐn]. spendete is at rank #27,496, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpɛndətə].

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 72423, this pair ranks #388,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Spendern vs spendete

Shared letters: denps. Private to "Spendern": r. Private to "spendete": t.

"Spendern" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "spendete" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spendern ← psendern · sepndern · spednern · spenddern · spendenr · spendernn · spenderrn · spendren
  • spendete ← psendete · sepndete · spednete · spenddete · spendeet · spendette · spendtee · spenedte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Spendern" for "spendete" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Spendern" is a noun and "spendete" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Spendern" or "spendete" show up more?
"spendete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,496 in our German list, against #44,927 for "Spendern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Spendern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spendete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #388,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spendern" and "spendete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spendern vs spendieren". 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 #388,755 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