SpaltvsStaatWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,511
“Spalt” frequency rank
#895
“Staat” frequency rank
23406
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spalt Staat
Definition eine rissförmige Öffnung nach Einfluss oder Aufgabe gestaffeltes System aus Individuen

Where the eye mixes Spalt and Staat

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Spalt
5 ch
Staat

Look-alike desk: Spalt vs Staat

A purely visual mix-up. Spalt ([ʃpalt]) and Staat ([ʃtaːt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23406, 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]. Staat is at rank #895, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtaːt].

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 23406, this pair ranks #1,861,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Spalt vs Staat

Shared letters: ast. Private to "Spalt": lp. Private to "Staat": -.

"Spalt" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Staat" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spaltpsalt · saplt · spallt · spaltt · spatl · splat · sppalt · sspalt
  • Staatsatat · sstaat · staatt · stata · sttaat · tsaat

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Spalt" for "Staat" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃpalt] versus [ʃtaːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Spalt" or "Staat"?
"Staat" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #895 in our German list, against #22,511 for "Spalt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Spalt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Staat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,861,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spalt" and "Staat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spalt 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 #1,861,724 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