spritztvsspritzteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,728
“spritzt” frequency rank
#36,033
“spritzte” frequency rank
53761
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spritzt spritzte
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spritzen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs spritzen

Where the eye mixes spritzt and spritzte

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

7 ch
spritzt
8 ch
spritzte

Look-alike desk: spritzt vs spritzte

A purely visual mix-up. spritzt ([ʃpʁɪt͡st]) and spritzte ([ˈʃpʁɪt͡stə]) 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) - “spritzt” sits inside “spritzte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53761, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spritzt is recorded at frequency rank #17,728, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃpʁɪt͡st]. spritzte is at rank #36,033, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpʁɪt͡stə].

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 53761, this pair ranks #1,045,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of spritzt vs spritzte

Shared letters: iprstz. Private to "spritzt": -. Private to "spritzte": e.

"spritzt" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCC  ·  "spritzte" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • spritzt ← psritzt · spirtzt · sppritzt · sprittz · sprittzt · spritztt · spritzzt · spriztt
  • spritzte ← psritzte · spirtzte · sppritzte · sprittzte · spritzet · spritztte · spritzzte · spriztte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "spritzt" for "spritzte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃpʁɪt͡st] versus [ˈʃpʁɪt͡stə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "spritzt" vs "spritzte" - which ranks higher?
"spritzt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,728 in our German list, against #36,033 for "spritzte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "spritzt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spritzte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,045,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spritzt" and "spritzte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spritz vs spritzte". 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 #1,045,267 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