SpaltvsspaltenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Spalt is a noun, spalten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Spalt” is a noun and “spalten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,511
“Spalt” frequency rank
#10,567
“spalten” frequency rank
33078
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spalt spalten
Definition eine rissförmige Öffnung mit einem Instrument der Länge nach teilen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Spalt and spalten apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Spalt
7 ch
spalten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Spalt is [ʃpalt] while spalten is [ˈʃpaltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Spalt” sits inside “spalten”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spalt is recorded at frequency rank #22,511, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃpalt]. spalten is at rank #10,567, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpaltn̩].

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 33078, this pair ranks #1,693,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Spalt vs spalten

Shared letters: alpst. Private to "Spalt": -. Private to "spalten": en.

"Spalt" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "spalten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spaltpsalt · saplt · spallt · spaltt · spatl · splat · sppalt · sspalt
  • spaltenpsalten · saplten · spaletn · spallten · spaltenn · spaltne · spaltten · spatlen

Frequency comparison

Spalt#22,511
spalten#10,567

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Spalt" and "spalten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Spalt" is a noun and "spalten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Spalt" or "spalten"?
"spalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,567 in our German list, against #22,511 for "Spalt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Spalt vs spalten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Spalt”; for a verb, it's “spalten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Spalt” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list