spätevsstadeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“späte” and “stade” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,757
“späte” frequency rank
#15,485
“stade” frequency rank
27242
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature späte stade
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs spät Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stad

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set späte and stade apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
späte
5 ch
stade

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. späte ([ˈʃpɛːtə]) and stade ([ˈʃtaːdə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27242, 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]. stade is at rank #15,485, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaːdə].

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 27242, this pair ranks #1,804,947 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of späte vs stade

Shared letters: est. Private to "späte": . Private to "stade": ad.

"späte" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "stade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stadesatde · sstade · stadde · staed · stdae · sttade · tsade

Frequency comparison

späte#11,757
stade#15,485

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "späte" and "stade" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃpɛːtə] versus [ˈʃtaːdə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "späte" or "stade"?
"späte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,757 in our German list, against #15,485 for "stade". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering späte vs stade

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “späte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list