spinnenvsspinntWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“spinnen” and “spinnt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,368
“spinnen” frequency rank
#19,397
“spinnt” frequency rank
29765
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spinnen spinnt
Definition einen Faden herstellen, Erstellung von Garn aus einzelnen Fasern 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spinnen

Where the eye mixes spinnen and spinnt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. spinnen runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against spinnt's 6 (CCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
spinnen
6 ch
spinnt

Visual trap between spinnen and spinnt

A purely visual mix-up. spinnen ([ˈʃpɪnən]) and spinnt ([ʃpɪnt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29765, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spinnen is recorded at frequency rank #10,368, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpɪnən]. spinnt is at rank #19,397, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpɪnt].

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 29765, this pair ranks #1,760,731 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of spinnen vs spinnt

Shared letters: inps. Private to "spinnen": e. Private to "spinnt": t.

"spinnen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "spinnt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • spinnen ← psinnen · sipnnen · spinen · spinenn · spinnenn · spinnne · spninen · sppinnen
  • spinnt ← psinnt · sipnnt · spinntt · spint · spintn · spnint · sppinnt · sspinnt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "spinnen" and "spinnt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃpɪnən] versus [ʃpɪnt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "spinnen" or "spinnt"?
"spinnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,368 in our German list, against #19,397 for "spinnt". 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 "spinnen" and "spinnt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "spinnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spinnt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,760,731 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spinnen" and "spinnt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spinnt vs spitzt". 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 #1,760,731 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