Which to use
“Spiegel” is a noun and “spiegelte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,569
- “Spiegel” frequency rank
- #41,471
- “spiegelte” frequency rank
- 43040
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Spiegel | spiegelte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | polierte Glas- oder Metallfläche, die Lichtstrahlen spiegelt oder reflektiert | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs spiegeln |
Where the eye mixes Spiegel and spiegelte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Spiegel with spiegelte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Spiegel is [ˈʃpiːɡl̩] while spiegelte is [ˈʃpiːɡl̩tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Spiegel” sits inside “spiegelte”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Spiegel is recorded at frequency rank #1,569, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpiːɡl̩]. spiegelte is at rank #41,471, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpiːɡl̩tə].
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 43040, this pair ranks #1,430,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Spiegel vs spiegelte
Shared letters: egilps. Private to "Spiegel": -. Private to "spiegelte": t.
"Spiegel" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "spiegelte" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Spiegel" and "spiegelte" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Spiegel" or "spiegelte"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Spiegel" and "spiegelte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Spiegel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spiegelte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,430,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Spiegel" and "spiegelte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "segelte vs spiegelte". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,430,444 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.