SpinnevsspinnenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#13,945
“Spinne” frequency rank
#10,368
“spinnen” frequency rank
24313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spinne spinnen
Definition kleines achtbeiniges Tier, das häufig Fäden spinnt einen Faden herstellen, Erstellung von Garn aus einzelnen Fasern

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Spinne and spinnen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Spinne
7 ch
spinnen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Spinne is [ˈʃpɪnə] while spinnen is [ˈʃpɪnən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Spinne” sits inside “spinnen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spinne is recorded at frequency rank #13,945, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpɪnə]. spinnen is at rank #10,368, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpɪnən].

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 24313, this pair ranks #1,849,386 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Spinne vs spinnen

Shared letters: einps. Private to "Spinne": -. Private to "spinnen": -.

"Spinne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "spinnen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spinnepsinne · sipnne · spine · spnine · sppinne · sspinne
  • spinnenpsinnen · sipnnen · spinen · spinenn · spinnenn · spinnne · spninen · sppinnen

Frequency comparison

Spinne#13,945
spinnen#10,368

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Spinne" and "spinnen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Spinne" is a noun and "spinnen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Spinne" or "spinnen"?
"spinnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,368 in our German list, against #13,945 for "Spinne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Spinne vs spinnen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Spinne”; for a verb, it's “spinnen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Spinne” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list