späterevsspäteresWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,314
“spätere” frequency rank
#36,036
“späteres” frequency rank
41350
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spätere späteres
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Komparativs des Adjektivs spät Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Komparativs des Adjektivs spät

Where the eye mixes spätere and späteres

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. spätere runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against späteres's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
spätere
8 ch
späteres

Visual trap between spätere and späteres

A purely visual mix-up. spätere ([ˈʃpɛːtəʁə]) and späteres ([ˈʃpɛːtəʁəs]) 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) - “spätere” sits inside “späteres”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spätere is recorded at frequency rank #5,314, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpɛːtəʁə]. späteres is at rank #36,036, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃpɛːtəʁəs].

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 41350, this pair ranks #1,482,078 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of spätere vs späteres

Shared letters: eprstä. Private to "spätere": -. Private to "späteres": -.

"spätere" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "späteres" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "spätere" for "späteres" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃpɛːtəʁə] versus [ˈʃpɛːtəʁəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "spätere" or "späteres"?
"spätere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,314 in our German list, against #36,036 for "späteres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "spätere" and "späteres" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "spätere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "späteres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,482,078 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spätere" and "späteres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "späteres vs spätes". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,482,078 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list