Which to use
“shut” and “spült” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,728
- “shut” frequency rank
- #34,379
- “spült” frequency rank
- 82107
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shut | spült |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schließen | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spülen |
Where the eye mixes shut and spült
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. shut runs 4 letters (CCVC) against spült's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses shut with spült
A purely visual mix-up. shut ([ʃʌt]) and spült ([ʃpyːlt]) 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 82107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shut is recorded at frequency rank #47,728, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃʌt]. spült is at rank #34,379, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpyːlt].
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 82107, this pair ranks #163,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shut vs spült
Shared letters: st. Private to "shut": hu. Private to "spült": lpü.
"shut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "spült" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- shut ← shhut · shtu · shutt · sshut · suht
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "shut" and "spült" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "shut" or "spült" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "shut" and "spült" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "shut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spült" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #163,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shut" and "spült" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schütt vs shut". 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 #163,206 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.