abspielenvsabspieltTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,621
“abspielen” frequency rank
#23,818
“abspielt” frequency rank
40439
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abspielen abspielt
Definition ein Spielgerät ins Spiel geben, an einen Mitspieler weitergeben, ihm zuspielen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv der Nebensatzkonjugation des Verbs abspielen

Where the eye mixes abspielen and abspielt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
abspielen
8 ch
abspielt

Visual trap between abspielen and abspielt

A purely visual mix-up. abspielen ([ˈapˌʃpiːlən]) and abspielt ([ˈapˌʃpiːlt]) 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 40439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abspielen is recorded at frequency rank #16,621, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʃpiːlən]. abspielt is at rank #23,818, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈapˌʃpiːlt].

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 40439, this pair ranks #1,508,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abspielen vs abspielt

Shared letters: abeilps. Private to "abspielen": n. Private to "abspielt": t.

"abspielen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC  ·  "abspielt" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abspielenabbspielen · abpsielen · absipelen · abspeilen · abspieeln · abspielenn · abspiellen · abspielne
  • abspieltabbspielt · abpsielt · absipelt · abspeilt · abspiellt · abspieltt · abspietl · abspilet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abspielen" for "abspielt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈapˌʃpiːlən] versus [ˈapˌʃpiːlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abspielen" or "abspielt"?
"abspielen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,621 in our German list, against #23,818 for "abspielt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "abspielen" and "abspielt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abspielen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abspielt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,508,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abspielen" and "abspielt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abspielen vs anspielen". 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 #1,508,483 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