Which to use
“skate” is a verb and “spätes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,585
- “skate” frequency rank
- #42,144
- “spätes” frequency rank
- 87729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | skate | spätes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs skaten | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs spät |
Where the eye mixes skate and spätes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. skate runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against spätes's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between skate and spätes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: skate is [ˈskɛɪ̯tə] while spätes is [ˈʃpɛːtəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
skate is recorded at frequency rank #45,585, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈskɛɪ̯tə]. spätes is at rank #42,144, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpɛːtəs].
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 87729, this pair ranks #76,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of skate vs spätes
Shared letters: est. Private to "skate": ak. Private to "spätes": pä.
"skate" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "spätes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- skate ← sakte · skaet · skatte · skkate · sktae · sskate
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "skate" for "spätes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "skate" or "spätes"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "skate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spätes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #76,708 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "skate" and "spätes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "skate vs Späth". 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 #76,708 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.