SeuchenvsstechenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#35,445
“Seuchen” frequency rank
#9,986
“stechen” frequency rank
45431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Seuchen stechen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Seuche einen spitzen Gegenstand wie eine Nadel in einen anderen Gegenstand treiben

Where the eye mixes Seuchen and stechen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Seuchen (CVVCCVC) and stechen (CCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
Seuchen
7 ch
stechen

Look-alike desk: Seuchen vs stechen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Seuchen is [ˈzɔɪ̯çn̩] while stechen is [ˈʃtɛçn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Seuchen is recorded at frequency rank #35,445, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzɔɪ̯çn̩]. stechen is at rank #9,986, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛçn̩].

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 45431, this pair ranks #1,353,252 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Seuchen vs stechen

Shared letters: cehns. Private to "Seuchen": u. Private to "stechen": t.

"Seuchen" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "stechen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Seuchen ← esuchen · secuhen · seucchen · seucehn · seuchenn · seuchhen · seuchne · seuhcen
  • stechen ← setchen · sstechen · stcehen · stecchen · stecehn · stechenn · stechhen · stechne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Seuchen" and "stechen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Seuchen" is a noun and "stechen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Seuchen" or "stechen" show up more?
"stechen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,986 in our German list, against #35,445 for "Seuchen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Seuchen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stechen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,353,252 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Seuchen" and "stechen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seuchen vs Speichen". 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 #1,353,252 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