SpassvsSpäthWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Spass is a noun, Späth is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Spass” is a noun and “Späth” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#524
“Spass” frequency rank
#47,741
“Späth” frequency rank
48265
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spass Späth
Definition Spaß deutscher Nachname, Familienname

Letter map: Spass vs Späth

Shared letters muted; letters that set Spass and Späth apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

5 ch
Spass
5 ch
Späth

Role in the sentence - Spass and Späth

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Spass is anoun and Späthaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48265, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spass is recorded at frequency rank #524, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃpaːs]. Späth is at rank #47,741, tagged as aname, pronounced […].

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 48265, this pair ranks #1,254,893 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Spass vs Späth

Shared letters: ps. Private to "Spass": a. Private to "Späth": htä.

"Spass" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Späth" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spasspsass · sapss · spas · spaß · sppass · spsas · sspass

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Spass" for "Späth" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Spass" is a noun and "Späth" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Spass" vs "Späth" - which ranks higher?
"Spass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #524 in our German list, against #47,741 for "Späth". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pair "Spass" vs "Späth" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Spass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Späth" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,254,893 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spass" and "Späth" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles 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 #1,254,893 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