SpaltevsSpässeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,175
“Spalte” frequency rank
#44,242
“Spässe” frequency rank
54417
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spalte Spässe
Definition schmaler Einschnitt, länglicher Riss Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Spass

Where the eye mixes Spalte and Spässe

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

6 ch
Spalte
6 ch
Spässe

Visual trap between Spalte and Spässe

A purely visual mix-up. Spalte ([ˈʃpaltə]) and Spässe ([ˈʃpɛːsə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spalte is recorded at frequency rank #10,175, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpaltə]. Spässe is at rank #44,242, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpɛːsə].

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 54417, this pair ranks #1,019,753 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Spalte vs Spässe

Shared letters: eps. Private to "Spalte": alt. Private to "Spässe": ä.

"Spalte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Spässe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spaltepsalte · saplte · spalet · spallte · spaltte · spatle · splate · sppalte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Spalte" and "Spässe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃpaltə] versus [ˈʃpɛːsə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Spalte" vs "Spässe" - which ranks higher?
"Spalte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,175 in our German list, against #44,242 for "Spässe". 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 "Spalte" and "Spässe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Spalte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Spässe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,019,753 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spalte" and "Spässe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sparst vs Spässe". 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 #1,019,753 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