Which to use
“spät” is an adjective and “statt” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,335
- “spät” frequency rank
- #315
- “statt” frequency rank
- 1650
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spät | statt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zeitlich fortgeschritten, kurz vor Schluss, gegen Ende | schließt zusammen mit der Infinitivkonjunktion ›zu‹ einen abhängigen Infinitiv an und zeigt einen Gegensatz/ eine SubstitutionSubstitutiondefiniert) -> »statt zu« |
Where the eye mixes spät and statt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses spät with statt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spät is [ʃpɛːt] while statt is [ʃtat]. 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 conjunction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1650, 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]. statt is at rank #315, tagged as aconj, pronounced [ʃtat].
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 1650, this pair ranks #2,003,966 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spät vs statt
Shared letters: st. Private to "spät": pä. Private to "statt": a.
"spät" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "statt" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- statt ← sattt · sstatt · stat · sttat · sttatt · tsatt
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "spät" and "statt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "spät" or "statt" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "spät" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "statt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,003,966 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spät" and "statt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spät 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 #2,003,966 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.