Which to use
“sav” is a noun and “spat” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,009
- “sav” frequency rank
- #19,703
- “spat” frequency rank
- 59712
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sav | spat |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A saveloy. | simple past and past participle of spit |
Letter map: sav vs spat
Shared letters muted; letters that set sav and spat apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: sav vs spat
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sav is anoun and spataverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59712, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sav is recorded at frequency rank #40,009, classified as anoun. spat is at rank #19,703, tagged as averb, pronounced /spæt/.
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 59712, this pair ranks #104,511 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sav vs spat
Shared letters: as. Private to "sav": v. Private to "spat": pt.
"sav" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "spat" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- spat ← sapt · spatt · sppat · spta · sspat
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sav" for "spat" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sav" vs "spat" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "sav" and "spat".
- Full dictionary entry for "sav" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #104,511 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sav" and "spat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sav vs Sif". 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 #104,511 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.