Which to use
“seal” and “stell” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,260
- “seal” frequency rank
- #3,077
- “stell” frequency rank
- 35337
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seal | stell |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dichten, abdichten | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stellen |
Where the eye mixes seal and stell
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. seal runs 4 letters (CVVC) against stell's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses seal with stell
A purely visual mix-up. seal ([siːl]) and stell ([ʃtɛl]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35337, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seal is recorded at frequency rank #32,260, classified as averb, pronounced [siːl]. stell is at rank #3,077, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtɛl].
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 35337, this pair ranks #1,642,402 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seal vs stell
Shared letters: els. Private to "seal": a. Private to "stell": t.
"seal" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "stell" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seal" and "stell" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "seal" or "stell"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "seal" and "stell" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "seal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stell" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,642,402 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seal" and "stell" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seal vs seg". 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 #1,642,402 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.