SpielartvsspielstConfusable pair

Quick tell: Spielart is a noun, spielst is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Spielart” is a noun and “spielst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,288
“Spielart” frequency rank
#9,981
“spielst” frequency rank
56269
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spielart spielst
Definition besondere Ausprägung von etwas 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spielen

Where the eye mixes Spielart and spielst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Spielart runs 8 letters (CCVVCVCC) against spielst's 7 (CCVVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Spielart
7 ch
spielst

Why the eye confuses Spielart with spielst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Spielart is [ˈʃpiːlˌʔaːɐ̯t] while spielst is [ʃpiːlst]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56269, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spielart is recorded at frequency rank #46,288, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpiːlˌʔaːɐ̯t]. spielst is at rank #9,981, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpiːlst].

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 56269, this pair ranks #946,797 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Spielart vs spielst

Shared letters: eilpst. Private to "Spielart": ar. Private to "spielst": -.

"Spielart" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC  ·  "spielst" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spielart ← psielart · sipelart · speilart · spiealrt · spielarrt · spielartt · spielatr · spiellart
  • spielst ← psielst · sipelst · speilst · spiellst · spielsst · spielstt · spielts · spieslt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Spielart" and "spielst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Spielart" is a noun and "spielst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Spielart" or "spielst" show up more?
"spielst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,981 in our German list, against #46,288 for "Spielart". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Spielart" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spielst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #946,797 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spielart" and "spielst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spielart vs Spielarten". 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 #946,797 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