Which to use
“Spione” and “stone” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,932
- “Spione” frequency rank
- #9,099
- “stone” frequency rank
- 34031
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Spione | stone |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Spion | Stein |
Where the eye mixes Spione and stone
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Spione runs 6 letters (CCVVCV) against stone's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Spione with stone
A purely visual mix-up. Spione ([ʃpiˈoːnə]) and stone ([stəʊn]) 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 34031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Spione is recorded at frequency rank #24,932, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃpiˈoːnə]. stone is at rank #9,099, tagged as anoun, pronounced [stəʊn].
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 34031, this pair ranks #1,672,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Spione vs stone
Shared letters: enos. Private to "Spione": ip. Private to "stone": t.
"Spione" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "stone" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Spione" and "stone" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Spione" vs "stone" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Spione" and "stone" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Spione" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stone" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,672,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Spione" and "stone" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spione vs spröde". 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 #1,672,543 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.