Spreu vs spüren, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#44,931
“Spreu” frequency rank: #3,400
“spüren” frequency rank: 48331
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Spreu	spüren
Definition	Dreschabfälle des Getreides aus Spelzen, Grannen und entkörnten Ährchen, die als Viehfutter verwendet werden	etwas körperlich, mit dem Tastsinn wahrnehmen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Spreu and spüren apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

Spreu

6 ch

spüren

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Spreu is [ʃpʁɔɪ̯] while spüren is [ˈʃpyːʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spreu is recorded at frequency rank #44,931, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃpʁɔɪ̯]. spüren is at rank #3,400, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpyːʁən].

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 48331, this pair ranks #1,252,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Spreu vs spüren

Shared letters: eprs. Private to "Spreu": u. Private to "spüren": nü.

"Spreu" · 5 letters · shape CCCVV · "spüren" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

Spreu ← psreu · speru · sppreu · sprreu · sprue · srpeu · sspreu

Frequency comparison

Spreu#44,931

spüren#3,400

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Spreu" and "spüren" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Spreu" is a noun and "spüren" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Spreu" or "spüren"?

"spüren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,400 in our German list, against #44,931 for "Spreu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Spreu vs spüren

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Spreu”; for a verb, it's “spüren”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Spreu” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable