speak

[spiːk]

/[spiːk]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“speak” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #39,637. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#39,637
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
18
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - mit der Stimme kommunizieren, Wörter laut sagen

Corpus desk

Index DE-speak · speak · German

speak · rank #39,637 · 7 variants · 18 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #39,637
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 18 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Speiseröhre

Nearest frequency peer: Speiseröhre (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „speak“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „speak“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

speak vs spuk
60% similar
speak vs speed
60% similar
speak vs steam
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for speak
PropertyValue
Headwordspeak
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[spiːk]
Letters5
Frequency rank#39,637
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs18
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „speak“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).speakliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Speiseröhre“ (#39,638), „spendieren“ (#39,639), „sort“ (#39,634). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „speak“ bei #39,637. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around speak (IPA [spiːk]), averb. Corpus frequency is #39,637 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for speak, with forms such as "pseak", "sepak", and "spaek". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 18 confusable-pair relationships, "spuk", "speed", "steam", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is speak, spelled S-P-E-A-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    mit der Stimme kommunizieren, Wörter laut sagen
  2. 2
    eine Unterhaltung führen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how speak appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Could you speak more slowly, please?
  2. We spoke about the new book.

This word in other languages

parler(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pseak
  • sepak
  • spaek
  • speakk
  • speka
  • sppeak
  • sspeak

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of speak - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

pseak2sepak2spaek2speakk1speka2sppeak1sspeak1
Edit distance from "speak"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "speak"?
"speak" is spelled S-P-E-A-K. The IPA pronunciation is [spiːk].
What does "speak" mean?
As a verb, "speak" means: mit der Stimme kommunizieren, Wörter laut sagen
What words are commonly confused with "speak"?
"speak" is commonly confused with "spuk", "speed", "steam". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "speak"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "speak" is [spiːk]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "speak" come from?
"speak" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "speak", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

shock#39,629Seher#39,624Saite#39,603trübt#39,671

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

tappen7 variantsRunge7 variantsreift7 variantsVikar7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list