SpieltagvsspielteWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#4,230
“Spieltag” frequency rank
#1,825
“spielte” frequency rank
6055
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spieltag spielte
Definition Tag, an welchem eine oder mehrere Austragungen einer Liga stattfinden 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs spielen

Where the eye mixes Spieltag and spielte

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

8 ch
Spieltag
7 ch
spielte

Why the eye confuses Spieltag with spielte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Spieltag is [ˈʃpiːlˌtaːk] while spielte is [ˈʃpiːltə]. 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 6055, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spieltag is recorded at frequency rank #4,230, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃpiːlˌtaːk]. 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 6055, this pair ranks #1,992,874 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Spieltag vs spielte

Shared letters: eilpst. Private to "Spieltag": ag. Private to "spielte": -.

"Spieltag" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC  ·  "spielte" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spieltag ← psieltag · sipeltag · speiltag · spielatg · spielltag · spieltagg · spieltga · spielttag
  • spielte ← psielte · sipelte · speilte · spielet · spiellte · spieltte · spietle · spilete

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Spieltag" and "spielte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Spieltag" is a noun and "spielte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Spieltag" or "spielte"?
"spielte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,825 in our German list, against #4,230 for "Spieltag". 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 "Spieltag" 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 #1,992,874 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spieltag" and "spielte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spieltag vs Spielzug". 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 #1,992,874 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