Which to use
“spies” is a verb and “Stiles” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,504
- “spies” frequency rank
- #44,942
- “Stiles” frequency rank
- 88446
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spies | Stiles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs speisen | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stil |
Where the eye mixes spies and Stiles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. spies runs 5 letters (CCVVC) against Stiles's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between spies and Stiles
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spies is [ʃpiːs] while Stiles is [ˈʃtiːləs]. 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 88446, 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]. Stiles is at rank #44,942, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtiːləs].
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 88446, this pair ranks #68,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of spies vs Stiles
Shared letters: eis. Private to "spies": p. Private to "Stiles": lt.
"spies" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "Stiles" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spies" for "Stiles" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "spies" or "Stiles" 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 "Stiles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spies" and "Stiles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs Stiles". 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 #68,266 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.