gestohlenvsgestörtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,515
“gestohlen” frequency rank
#35,802
“gestörten” frequency rank
40317
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gestohlen gestörten
Definition aus jemandes Besitz/Eigentum entwendet Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gestört

Where the eye mixes gestohlen and gestörten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gestohlen and gestörten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
gestohlen
9 ch
gestörten

Visual trap between gestohlen and gestörten

A purely visual mix-up. gestohlen ([ɡəˈʃtoːlən]) and gestörten ([ɡəˈʃtøːɐ̯tn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gestohlen is recorded at frequency rank #4,515, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃtoːlən]. gestörten is at rank #35,802, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʃtøːɐ̯tn̩].

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 40317, this pair ranks #1,511,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gestohlen vs gestörten

Shared letters: egnst. Private to "gestohlen": hlo. Private to "gestörten": rö.

"gestohlen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "gestörten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gestohlen ← egstohlen · gesothlen · gesstohlen · gestholen · gestoheln · gestohhlen · gestohlenn · gestohllen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gestohlen" and "gestörten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈʃtoːlən] versus [ɡəˈʃtøːɐ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gestohlen" vs "gestörten" - which ranks higher?
"gestohlen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,515 in our German list, against #35,802 for "gestörten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gestohlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gestörten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,511,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gestohlen" and "gestörten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gestörte vs gestörten". 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 #1,511,950 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