scratchvsstarsWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#43,485
“scratch” frequency rank
#3,921
“stars” frequency rank
47406
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scratch stars
Definition kratzen Plural des Substantivs star

Letter map: scratch vs stars

Shared letters muted; letters that set scratch and stars apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

7 ch
scratch
5 ch
stars

Grammar separator: scratch vs stars

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: scratch is averb and starsanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47406, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scratch is recorded at frequency rank #43,485, classified as averb, pronounced […]. stars is at rank #3,921, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 47406, this pair ranks #1,285,388 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of scratch vs stars

Shared letters: arst. Private to "scratch": ch. Private to "stars": -.

"scratch" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCC  ·  "stars" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scratchcsratch · scartch · sccratch · scracth · scratcch · scratchh · scrathc · scrattch
  • starssatrs · sstars · starrs · starss · stasr · stras · sttars · tsars

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "scratch" for "stars" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scratch" is a verb and "stars" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "scratch" vs "stars" - which ranks higher?
"stars" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,921 in our German list, against #43,485 for "scratch". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "scratch" and "stars".

  • Full dictionary entry for "scratch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stars" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,285,388 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scratch" and "stars" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs scratch". 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 #1,285,388 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