spotsvstimesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#24,933
“spots” frequency rank
#5,431
“times” frequency rank
30364
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spots times
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spot Plural des Substantivs time

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set spots and times apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
spots
5 ch
times

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

spots and times form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30364, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spots is recorded at frequency rank #24,933, classified as averb, pronounced […]. times is at rank #5,431, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 30364, this pair ranks #1,749,361 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

spots#24,933
times#5,431

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "spots" and "times" be used interchangeably?
No, "spots" and "times" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering spots vs times

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “spots”; for a noun, it's “times”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “spots” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list