spiegelnvsSpiegelsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#12,792
“spiegeln” frequency rank
#40,852
“Spiegels” frequency rank
53644
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spiegeln Spiegels
Definition ein Bild von etwas oder jemandem in einem geeigneten Medium zurückgeben Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Spiegel

Where the eye mixes spiegeln and Spiegels

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. spiegeln and Spiegels follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
spiegeln
8 ch
Spiegels

Why the eye confuses spiegeln with Spiegels

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spiegeln is [ˈʃpiːɡl̩n] while Spiegels is [ˈʃpiːɡl̩s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “spiegeln” becomes s in “Spiegels”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spiegeln is recorded at frequency rank #12,792, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpiːɡl̩n]. Spiegels is at rank #40,852, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpiːɡl̩s].

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 53644, this pair ranks #1,049,968 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of spiegeln vs Spiegels

Shared letters: egilps. Private to "spiegeln": n. Private to "Spiegels": -.

"spiegeln" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC  ·  "Spiegels" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • spiegeln ← psiegeln · sipegeln · speigeln · spieegln · spiegelln · spiegelnn · spiegenl · spieggeln
  • Spiegels ← psiegels · sipegels · speigels · spieegls · spiegells · spiegelss · spiegesl · spieggels

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "spiegeln" and "Spiegels" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "spiegeln" is a verb and "Spiegels" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "spiegeln" vs "Spiegels" - which ranks higher?
"spiegeln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,792 in our German list, against #40,852 for "Spiegels". 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 "spiegeln" and "Spiegels" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "spiegeln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Spiegels" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,049,968 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spiegeln" and "Spiegels" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Siegers vs Spiegels". 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 #1,049,968 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