SpaltevsStädteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,175
“Spalte” frequency rank
#1,748
“Städte” frequency rank
11923
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spalte Städte
Definition schmaler Einschnitt, länglicher Riss Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stadt

Where the eye mixes Spalte and Städte

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

6 ch
Spalte
6 ch
Städte

Why the eye confuses Spalte with Städte

A purely visual mix-up. Spalte ([ˈʃpaltə]) and Städte ([ˈʃtɛːtə]) 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 11923, 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]. Städte is at rank #1,748, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛːtə].

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 11923, this pair ranks #1,967,204 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Spalte vs Städte

Shared letters: est. Private to "Spalte": alp. Private to "Städte": .

"Spalte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Städte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Spalte" and "Städte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃpaltə] versus [ˈʃtɛːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Spalte" or "Städte"?
"Städte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,748 in our German list, against #10,175 for "Spalte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Spalte" and "Städte" 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 "Städte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,967,204 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spalte" and "Städte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spalte 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 #1,967,204 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