SerievsSterneTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,043
“Serie” frequency rank
#2,992
“Sterne” frequency rank
4035
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Serie Sterne
Definition geordnete Abfolge gleichartiger Ereignisse Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Stern

Where the eye mixes Serie and Sterne

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Serie
6 ch
Sterne

Look-alike desk: Serie vs Sterne

A purely visual mix-up. Serie ([ˈzeːʁiə]) and Sterne ([ˈʃtɛʁnə]) 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 4035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Serie is recorded at frequency rank #1,043, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzeːʁiə]. Sterne is at rank #2,992, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁnə].

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 4035, this pair ranks #1,998,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Serie vs Sterne

Shared letters: ers. Private to "Serie": i. Private to "Sterne": nt.

"Serie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "Sterne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Serieesrie · seire · serei · serrie · sreie · sserie
  • Sternesetrne · ssterne · stenre · steren · sternne · sterrne · strene · stterne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Serie" and "Sterne" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzeːʁiə] versus [ˈʃtɛʁnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Serie" vs "Sterne" - which ranks higher?
"Serie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,043 in our German list, against #2,992 for "Sterne". 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 "Serie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sterne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,998,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Serie" and "Sterne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Serie vs serra". 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 #1,998,740 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