spaltetvsspätesTell them apart

Quick tell: spaltet is a verb, spätes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“spaltet” is a verb and “spätes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,432
“spaltet” frequency rank
#42,144
“spätes” frequency rank
63576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spaltet spätes
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spalten Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs spät

Where the eye mixes spaltet and spätes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
spaltet
6 ch
spätes

Look-alike desk: spaltet vs spätes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spaltet is [ˈʃpaltət] while spätes is [ˈʃpɛːtəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spaltet is recorded at frequency rank #21,432, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpaltət]. spätes is at rank #42,144, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpɛːtəs].

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 63576, this pair ranks #671,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of spaltet vs spätes

Shared letters: epst. Private to "spaltet": al. Private to "spätes": ä.

"spaltet" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "spätes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • spaltetpsaltet · sapltet · spalett · spalltet · spaltett · spalttet · spatlet · splatet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "spaltet" for "spätes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "spaltet" is a verb and "spätes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "spaltet" or "spätes" show up more?
"spaltet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,432 in our German list, against #42,144 for "spätes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "spaltet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spätes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #671,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spaltet" and "spätes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spätes 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 #671,865 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