Which to use
“sick” is a verb and “Stich” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,489
- “sick” frequency rank
- #6,726
- “Stich” frequency rank
- 34215
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sick | Stich |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sicken | das Eindringen eines spitzen Gegenstandes in einen Körper |
Where the eye mixes sick and Stich
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sick and Stich
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sick is [zɪk] while Stich is [ʃtɪç]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sick is recorded at frequency rank #27,489, classified as averb, pronounced [zɪk]. Stich is at rank #6,726, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɪç].
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 34215, this pair ranks #1,668,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sick vs Stich
Shared letters: cis. Private to "sick": k. Private to "Stich": ht.
"sick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Stich" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sick" and "Stich" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "sick" or "Stich" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sick" and "Stich" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Stich" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,668,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sick" and "Stich" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sick vs Sire". 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 #1,668,466 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.