Which to use
“spät” is an adjective and “stay” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,335
- “spät” frequency rank
- #19,048
- “stay” frequency rank
- 20383
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spät | stay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zeitlich fortgeschritten, kurz vor Schluss, gegen Ende | bleiben |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set spät and stay apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
spät and stay form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20383, 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]. stay is at rank #19,048, tagged as averb, 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 20383, this pair ranks #1,898,291 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spät" and "stay" be used interchangeably?
Remembering spät vs stay
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “spät”; for a verb, it's “stay”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “spät” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable