Which to use
“Spieles” is a noun and “spielte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,830
- “Spieles” frequency rank
- #1,825
- “spielte” frequency rank
- 35655
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Spieles | spielte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Spiel | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs spielen |
Where the eye mixes Spieles and spielte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Spieles with spielte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Spieles is [ˈʃpiːləs] while spielte is [ˈʃpiːltə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Spieles is recorded at frequency rank #33,830, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpiːləs]. spielte is at rank #1,825, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpiːltə].
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 35655, this pair ranks #1,634,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Spieles vs spielte
Shared letters: eilps. Private to "Spieles": -. Private to "spielte": t.
"Spieles" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "spielte" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Spieles" and "spielte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Spieles" or "spielte" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Spieles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spielte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,634,772 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Spieles" and "spielte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spieles vs Stiles". 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 #1,634,772 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.