scalevsStallWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,769
“scale” frequency rank
#8,457
“Stall” frequency rank
40226
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scale Stall
Definition Waage Raum für den Aufenthalt von Haustieren

Where the eye mixes scale and Stall

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
scale
5 ch
Stall

Look-alike desk: scale vs Stall

A purely visual mix-up. scale ([skeɪl]) and Stall ([ʃtal]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scale is recorded at frequency rank #31,769, classified as anoun, pronounced [skeɪl]. Stall is at rank #8,457, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtal].

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 40226, this pair ranks #1,514,563 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of scale vs Stall

Shared letters: als. Private to "scale": ce. Private to "Stall": t.

"scale" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Stall" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scalecsale · sacle · scael · scalle · sccale · sclae · sscale
  • Stallsatll · sstall · stal · stlal · sttall · tsall

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "scale" and "Stall" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([skeɪl] versus [ʃtal]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "scale" or "Stall" show up more?
"Stall" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,457 in our German list, against #31,769 for "scale". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "scale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stall" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,514,563 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scale" and "Stall" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sake vs scale". 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 #1,514,563 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