Which to use
“Spass” is a noun and “spätes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #524
- “Spass” frequency rank
- #42,144
- “spätes” frequency rank
- 42668
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Spass | spätes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Spaß | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs spät |
Where the eye mixes Spass and spätes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Spass and spätes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Spass is [ʃpaːs] 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42668, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Spass is recorded at frequency rank #524, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃpaːs]. 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 42668, this pair ranks #1,442,284 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Spass vs spätes
Shared letters: ps. Private to "Spass": a. Private to "spätes": etä.
"Spass" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "spätes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Spass ← psass · sapss · spas · spaß · sppass · spsas · sspass
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Spass" and "spätes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Spass" or "spätes"?
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 "Spass" 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 #1,442,284 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Spass" 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 #1,442,284 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.