Which to use
“scale” is a noun and “späte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,769
- “scale” frequency rank
- #11,757
- “späte” frequency rank
- 43526
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scale | späte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Waage | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs spät |
Where the eye mixes scale and späte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: scale vs späte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scale is [skeɪl] while späte is [ˈʃpɛːtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scale is recorded at frequency rank #31,769, classified as anoun, pronounced [skeɪl]. späte is at rank #11,757, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpɛːtə].
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 43526, this pair ranks #1,415,286 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of scale vs späte
Shared letters: es. Private to "scale": acl. Private to "späte": ptä.
"scale" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "späte" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- scale ← csale · sacle · scael · scalle · sccale · sclae · sscale
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "scale" for "späte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "scale" vs "späte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "scale" and "späte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "scale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "späte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,415,286 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scale" and "späte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sake vs scale". 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 #1,415,286 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.