setzevssteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,307
“setze” frequency rank
#25,778
“ste” frequency rank
31085
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature setze ste
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs setzen 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs biti

Letter map: setze vs ste

Shared letters muted; letters that set setze and ste apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
setze
3 ch
ste

Pair insight - setze / ste

setze and ste are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

setze is recorded at frequency rank #5,307, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɛt͡sə]. ste is at rank #25,778, tagged as averb, 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 31085, this pair ranks #1,735,100 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of setze vs ste

Shared letters: est. Private to "setze": z. Private to "ste": -.

"setze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "ste" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • setzeestze · setez · setzze · sezte · ssetze · steze

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "setze" and "ste" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "setze" vs "ste" - which ranks higher?
"setze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,307 in our German list, against #25,778 for "ste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "setze" and "ste". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "setze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,735,100 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "setze" and "ste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs ste". 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 #1,735,100 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