Which to use
“späte” and “spätes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,757
- “späte” frequency rank
- #42,144
- “spätes” frequency rank
- 53901
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | späte | spätes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs spät | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs spät |
Where the eye mixes späte and spätes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between späte and spätes
A purely visual mix-up. späte ([ˈʃpɛːtə]) and spätes ([ˈʃpɛːtəs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “späte” sits inside “spätes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
späte is recorded at frequency rank #11,757, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpɛːtə]. spätes is at rank #42,144, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpɛːtəs].
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 53901, this pair ranks #1,039,903 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of späte vs spätes
Shared letters: epstä. Private to "späte": -. Private to "spätes": -.
"späte" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "spätes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "späte" and "spätes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "späte" or "spätes" 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 "späte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spätes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,039,903 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "späte" and "spätes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spätes vs Späth". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,039,903 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.