Which to use
“spät” is an adjective and “staut” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,335
- “spät” frequency rank
- #39,044
- “staut” frequency rank
- 40379
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spät | staut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zeitlich fortgeschritten, kurz vor Schluss, gegen Ende | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stauen |
Where the eye mixes spät and staut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: spät vs staut
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spät is [ʃpɛːt] while staut is [ʃtaʊ̯t]. 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 40379, 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]. staut is at rank #39,044, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtaʊ̯t].
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 40379, this pair ranks #1,510,205 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spät vs staut
Shared letters: st. Private to "spät": pä. Private to "staut": au.
"spät" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "staut" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- staut ← satut · sstaut · statu · stautt · sttaut · stuat · tsaut
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "spät" and "staut" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "spät" vs "staut" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "staut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,510,205 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spät" and "staut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "staunte vs staut". 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 #1,510,205 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.