SehnevsstehleWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#22,136
“Sehne” frequency rank
#39,045
“stehle” frequency rank
61181
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sehne stehle
Definition Band aus Bindegewebe zwischen Muskeln und Knochen zur wechselseitigen Übertragung der im Bewegungsablauf auftretenden mechanischen Kräfte 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehlen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Sehne and stehle apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Sehne
6 ch
stehle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Sehne is [ˈzeːnə] while stehle is [ˈʃteːlə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61181, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sehne is recorded at frequency rank #22,136, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzeːnə]. stehle is at rank #39,045, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːlə].

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 61181, this pair ranks #759,317 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Sehne vs stehle

Shared letters: ehs. Private to "Sehne": n. Private to "stehle": lt.

"Sehne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "stehle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sehneeshne · sehhne · senhe · shene · ssehne
  • stehlesethle · sstehle · stehel · stehhle · stehlle · stelhe · sthele · sttehle

Frequency comparison

Sehne#22,136
stehle#39,045

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Sehne" and "stehle" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Sehne" is a noun and "stehle" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Sehne" or "stehle"?
"Sehne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,136 in our German list, against #39,045 for "stehle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Sehne vs stehle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Sehne”; for a verb, it's “stehle”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Sehne” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list