siegtenvsspieltenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#29,788
“siegten” frequency rank
#4,464
“spielten” frequency rank
34252
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature siegten spielten
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs siegen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs spielen

Where the eye mixes siegten and spielten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. siegten runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against spielten's 8 (CCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
siegten
8 ch
spielten

Visual trap between siegten and spielten

A purely visual mix-up. siegten ([ˈziːktn̩]) and spielten ([ˈʃpiːltn̩]) 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 34252, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

siegten is recorded at frequency rank #29,788, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈziːktn̩]. spielten is at rank #4,464, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpiːltn̩].

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 34252, this pair ranks #1,667,587 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of siegten vs spielten

Shared letters: einst. Private to "siegten": g. Private to "spielten": lp.

"siegten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "spielten" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • siegten ← isegten · seigten · siegetn · sieggten · siegtenn · siegtne · siegtten · sietgen
  • spielten ← psielten · sipelten · speilten · spieletn · spiellten · spieltenn · spieltne · spieltten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "siegten" and "spielten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈziːktn̩] versus [ˈʃpiːltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "siegten" or "spielten"?
"spielten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,464 in our German list, against #29,788 for "siegten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "siegten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spielten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,667,587 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "siegten" and "spielten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "siegten vs Stegen". 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 #1,667,587 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