Which to use
“späte” is an adjective and “Städte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,757
- “späte” frequency rank
- #1,748
- “Städte” frequency rank
- 13505
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | späte | Städte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs spät | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stadt |
Where the eye mixes späte and Städte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. späte runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against Städte's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between späte and Städte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: späte is [ˈʃpɛːtə] while Städte is [ˈʃtɛːtə]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13505, 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]. Städte is at rank #1,748, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛːtə].
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 13505, this pair ranks #1,957,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of späte vs Städte
Shared letters: estä. Private to "späte": p. Private to "Städte": d.
"späte" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "Städte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "späte" for "Städte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "späte" vs "Städte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "späte" and "Städte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "späte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Städte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,957,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "späte" and "Städte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "späte vs Späth". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,957,551 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.