sprechen

[ˈʃpʁɛçn̩]

/[ˈʃpʁɛçn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“sprechen” has 13 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #653. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#653
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - mündliche Äußerungen in Form von Lauten, Wörtern und/oder Sätzen von sich geben

Corpus desk

Index DE-sprechen · sprechen · German

sprechen · rank #653 · 13 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #653
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH spielt

Nearest frequency peer: spielt (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “sprechen”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “sprechen” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

sprechen vs Sprüche
63% similar
sprechen vs stechen
75% similar
sprechen vs sprecht
75% similar

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

Key facts for sprechen
PropertyValue
Headwordsprechen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃpʁɛçn̩]
Letters8
Frequency rank#653
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “sprechen” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.sprechenliegt hier:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „spielt“ (#652), „video“ (#654), „Spiele“ (#651). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around sprechen (IPA [ˈʃpʁɛçn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #653 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for sprechen, with forms such as "psrechen", "sperchen", and "spprechen". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Sprüche", "stechen", "sprecht", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is sprechen, spelled S-P-R-E-C-H-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    mündliche Äußerungen in Form von Lauten, Wörtern und/oder Sätzen von sich geben
  2. 2
    etwas nonverbal andeuten; indirekt erkennbar machen, zum Ausdruck bringen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sprich lauter, damit man dich auch versteht!
  2. Mein Kind hat mit neun Monaten sein erstes Wort gesprochen.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psrechen
  • sperchen
  • spprechen
  • sprcehen
  • sprecchen
  • sprecehn
  • sprechenn
  • sprechhen
  • sprechne
  • sprehcen
  • sprrechen
  • srpechen
  • ssprechen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sprechen - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

psrechen2sperchen2spprechen1sprcehen2sprecchen1sprecehn2sprechenn1sprechhen1
Edit distance from "sprechen"

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 "sprechen"?
"sprechen" is spelled S-P-R-E-C-H-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃpʁɛçn̩].
What does "sprechen" mean?
As a verb, "sprechen" means: mündliche Äußerungen in Form von Lauten, Wörtern und/oder Sätzen von sich geben
What words are commonly confused with "sprechen"?
"sprechen" is commonly confused with "Sprüche", "stechen", "sprecht". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sprechen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sprechen" is [ˈʃpʁɛçn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sprechen" come from?
"sprechen" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "sprechen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "sprechen". Here's where to go from here.

  • "sprechen" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Sprüche". View pair
  • 13 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #653 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list