SprungvsSpülungWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,117
“Sprung” frequency rank
#39,039
“Spülung” frequency rank
44156
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sprung Spülung
Definition feiner Riss in einem festen Material Bauteil am WC, das alles aus dem Toilettenbecken in dem Abfluss spült

Where the eye mixes Sprung and Spülung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Sprung runs 6 letters (CCCVCC) against Spülung's 7 (CCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Sprung
7 ch
Spülung

Why the eye confuses Sprung with Spülung

A purely visual mix-up. Sprung ([ʃpʁʊŋ]) and Spülung ([ˈʃpyːlʊŋ]) 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 44156, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sprung is recorded at frequency rank #5,117, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃpʁʊŋ]. Spülung is at rank #39,039, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpyːlʊŋ].

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 44156, this pair ranks #1,395,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Sprung vs Spülung

Shared letters: gnpsu. Private to "Sprung": r. Private to "Spülung": lü.

"Sprung" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "Spülung" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sprung ← psrung · spprung · sprnug · sprrung · sprugn · sprungg · sprunng · spurng

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Sprung" and "Spülung" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʃpʁʊŋ] versus [ˈʃpyːlʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Sprung" vs "Spülung" - which ranks higher?
"Sprung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,117 in our German list, against #39,039 for "Spülung". 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 "Sprung" and "Spülung" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sprung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Spülung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,395,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sprung" and "Spülung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spülen vs Spülung". 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 #1,395,186 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