sprachvssprichWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,460
“sprach” frequency rank
#3,998
“sprich” frequency rank
5458
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sprach sprich
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sprechen 2. Person Singular Präsens Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs sprechen

Where the eye mixes sprach and sprich

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
sprach
6 ch
sprich

Visual trap between sprach and sprich

A purely visual mix-up. sprach ([ʃpʁaːx]) and sprich ([ʃpʁɪç]) 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 a single letter - a in “sprach” becomes i in “sprich”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sprach is recorded at frequency rank #1,460, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃpʁaːx]. sprich is at rank #3,998, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpʁɪç].

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 5458, this pair ranks #1,994,699 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sprach vs sprich

Shared letters: chprs. Private to "sprach": a. Private to "sprich": i.

"sprach" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "sprich" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sprachpsrach · sparch · spprach · spracch · sprachh · sprahc · sprcah · sprrach
  • sprichpsrich · spirch · spprich · sprcih · spricch · sprichh · sprihc · sprrich

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sprach" and "sprich" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃpʁaːx] versus [ʃpʁɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sprach" vs "sprich" - which ranks higher?
"sprach" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,460 in our German list, against #3,998 for "sprich". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "sprach" and "sprich" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sprach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sprich" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,994,699 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sprach" and "sprich" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sprich vs spritz". 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 #1,994,699 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