Which to use
“spät” is an adjective and “spürt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,335
- “spät” frequency rank
- #8,949
- “spürt” frequency rank
- 10284
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spät | spürt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zeitlich fortgeschritten, kurz vor Schluss, gegen Ende | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spüren |
Where the eye mixes spät and spürt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between spät and spürt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spät is [ʃpɛːt] while spürt is [ʃpyːɐ̯t]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10284, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spät is recorded at frequency rank #1,335, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃpɛːt]. spürt is at rank #8,949, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpyːɐ̯t].
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 10284, this pair ranks #1,975,888 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spät vs spürt
Shared letters: pst. Private to "spät": ä. Private to "spürt": rü.
"spät" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "spürt" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spät" and "spürt" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "spät" or "spürt" show up more?
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 "spät" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spürt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,975,888 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spät" and "spürt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spürt vs surft". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,975,888 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.