spielstvsspieltTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,981
“spielst” frequency rank
#652
“spielt” frequency rank
10633
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spielst spielt
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spielen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spielen

Where the eye mixes spielst and spielt

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

7 ch
spielst
6 ch
spielt

Look-alike desk: spielst vs spielt

A purely visual mix-up. spielst ([ʃpiːlst]) and spielt ([ʃpiːlt]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spielst is recorded at frequency rank #9,981, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃpiːlst]. spielt is at rank #652, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpiːlt].

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 10633, this pair ranks #1,974,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of spielst vs spielt

Shared letters: eilpst. Private to "spielst": -. Private to "spielt": -.

"spielst" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCC  ·  "spielt" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • spielst ← psielst · sipelst · speilst · spiellst · spielsst · spielstt · spielts · spieslt
  • spielt ← psielt · sipelt · speilt · spiellt · spieltt · spietl · spilet · sppielt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "spielst" and "spielt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʃpiːlst] versus [ʃpiːlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "spielst" or "spielt"?
"spielt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #652 in our German list, against #9,981 for "spielst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "spielst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spielt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,974,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spielst" and "spielt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spielart vs spielst". 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 #1,974,139 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