Which to use
“spielt” and “spielte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #652
- “spielt” frequency rank
- #1,825
- “spielte” frequency rank
- 2477
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spielt | spielte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spielen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs spielen |
Where the eye mixes spielt and spielte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between spielt and spielte
A purely visual mix-up. spielt ([ʃpiːlt]) and spielte ([ˈʃpiːltə]) 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) - “spielt” sits inside “spielte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spielt is recorded at frequency rank #652, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃpiːlt]. 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 2477, this pair ranks #2,002,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spielt vs spielte
Shared letters: eilpst. Private to "spielt": -. Private to "spielte": -.
"spielt" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "spielte" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "spielt" and "spielte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "spielt" or "spielte"?
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 "spielt" 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 #2,002,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spielt" and "spielte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spielart vs spielt". 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 #2,002,253 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.