sprengenvsSprüngenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#13,028
“sprengen” frequency rank
#39,038
“Sprüngen” frequency rank
52066
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sprengen Sprüngen
Definition etwas mit Hilfe von explosivem Material zerstören Dativ Plural des Substantivs Sprung

Where the eye mixes sprengen and Sprüngen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. sprengen and Sprüngen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
sprengen
8 ch
Sprüngen

Why the eye confuses sprengen with Sprüngen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sprengen is [ˈʃpʁɛŋən] while Sprüngen is [ˈʃpʁʏŋən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “sprengen” becomes ü in “Sprüngen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52066, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sprengen is recorded at frequency rank #13,028, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpʁɛŋən]. Sprüngen is at rank #39,038, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpʁʏŋən].

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 52066, this pair ranks #1,111,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sprengen vs Sprüngen

Shared letters: egnprs. Private to "sprengen": -. Private to "Sprüngen": ü.

"sprengen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "Sprüngen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sprengen ← psrengen · sperngen · spprengen · spregnen · sprenegn · sprengenn · sprenggen · sprengne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sprengen" and "Sprüngen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sprengen" is a verb and "Sprüngen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sprengen" or "Sprüngen"?
"sprengen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,028 in our German list, against #39,038 for "Sprüngen". 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 "sprengen" and "Sprüngen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sprengen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sprüngen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,111,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sprengen" and "Sprüngen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sperrungen vs Sprüngen". 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 #1,111,248 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