Which to use
“sprechen” and “streichen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #653
- “sprechen” frequency rank
- #5,430
- “streichen” frequency rank
- 6083
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sprechen | streichen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mündliche Äußerungen in Form von Lauten, Wörtern und/oder Sätzen von sich geben | Farbe mit einem Pinsel auf einen Untergrund auftragen |
Where the eye mixes sprechen and streichen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sprechen with streichen
A purely visual mix-up. sprechen ([ˈʃpʁɛçn̩]) and streichen ([ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çn̩]) 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 6083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sprechen is recorded at frequency rank #653, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpʁɛçn̩]. streichen is at rank #5,430, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çn̩].
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 6083, this pair ranks #1,992,775 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sprechen vs streichen
Shared letters: cehnrs. Private to "sprechen": p. Private to "streichen": it.
"sprechen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC · "streichen" · 9 letters · shape CCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sprechen" for "streichen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sprechen" vs "streichen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sprechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "streichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,992,775 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sprechen" and "streichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Speichen vs streichen". 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 #1,992,775 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.