smashvsSpäthWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: smash is a verb, Späth is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“smash” is a verb and “Späth” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,274
“smash” frequency rank
#47,741
“Späth” frequency rank
80015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature smash Späth
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs smashen deutscher Nachname, Familienname

Letter map: smash vs Späth

Shared letters muted; letters that set smash and Späth apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. smash and Späth follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
smash
5 ch
Späth

Part-of-speech tell for smash / Späth

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: smash is averb and Späthaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

smash is recorded at frequency rank #32,274, classified as averb, pronounced [smæʃ]. Späth is at rank #47,741, tagged as aname, pronounced […].

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 80015, this pair ranks #204,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of smash vs Späth

Shared letters: hs. Private to "smash": am. Private to "Späth": ptä.

"smash" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Späth" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • smash ← msash · samsh · smahs · smashh · smassh · smmash · smsah · ssmash

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "smash" for "Späth" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "smash" is a verb and "Späth" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "smash" vs "Späth" - which ranks higher?
"smash" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,274 in our German list, against #47,741 for "Späth". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "smash" vs "Späth" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "smash" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Späth" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #204,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "smash" and "Späth" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles 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 #204,266 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