sprachvsStrichWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,460
“sprach” frequency rank
#5,029
“Strich” frequency rank
6489
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sprach Strich
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sprechen eine in der Regel von einem Schreibgerät gezogene meist kurze unregelmäßige Linie

Where the eye mixes sprach and Strich

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
sprach
6 ch
Strich

Why the eye confuses sprach with Strich

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sprach is [ʃpʁaːx] while Strich is [ʃtʁɪç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6489, 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]. Strich is at rank #5,029, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtʁɪç].

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 6489, this pair ranks #1,991,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sprach vs Strich

Shared letters: chrs. Private to "sprach": ap. Private to "Strich": it.

"sprach" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "Strich" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sprachpsrach · sparch · spprach · spracch · sprachh · sprahc · sprcah · sprrach
  • Strichsrtich · sstrich · stirch · strcih · stricch · strichh · strihc · strrich

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sprach" and "Strich" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sprach" is a verb and "Strich" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "sprach" or "Strich" show up more?
"sprach" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,460 in our German list, against #5,029 for "Strich". 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 "sprach" and "Strich" 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 "Strich" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,991,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sprach" and "Strich" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Strich vs struck". 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 #1,991,466 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