Which to use
“spies” is a verb and “Spion” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,504
- “spies” frequency rank
- #18,070
- “Spion” frequency rank
- 61574
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spies | Spion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs speisen | ein heimlicher, unerkannter Beobachter, der die gegnerische Seite auszukunden hat |
Where the eye mixes spies and Spion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. spies and Spion follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between spies and Spion
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spies is [ʃpiːs] while Spion is [ʃpiˈoːn]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61574, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spies is recorded at frequency rank #43,504, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃpiːs]. Spion is at rank #18,070, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃpiˈoːn].
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 61574, this pair ranks #744,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spies vs Spion
Shared letters: ips. Private to "spies": e. Private to "Spion": no.
"spies" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "Spion" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spies" for "Spion" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "spies" or "Spion" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "spies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Spion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #744,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spies" and "Spion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Skier vs spies". 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 #744,678 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.