späte vs ste, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“späte” is an adjective and “ste” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,757
“späte” frequency rank: #25,778
“ste” frequency rank: 37535
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	späte	ste
Definition	Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs spät	2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs biti

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

späte

3 ch

ste

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: späte is anadjective and steaverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37535, 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]. ste is at rank #25,778, 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 37535, this pair ranks #1,587,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of späte vs ste

Shared letters: est. Private to "späte": pä. Private to "ste": -.

"späte" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "ste" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequency comparison

späte#11,757

ste#25,778

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "späte" and "ste" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "späte" is an adjective and "ste" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "späte" or "ste"?

"späte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,757 in our German list, against #25,778 for "ste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering späte vs ste

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “späte”; for a verb, it's “ste”.
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