sisvsstuWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sis is a num, stu is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sis” is a num and “stu” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,202
“sis” frequency rank
#47,032
“stu” frequency rank
84234
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sis stu
Definition sechs (6) Dativ Singular des Numerales sto

Where the eye mixes sis and stu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. sis (CVC) and stu (CCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
sis
3 ch
stu

Visual trap between sis and stu

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sis is [sis] while stu is [stʊ]. 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 (num vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sis is recorded at frequency rank #37,202, classified as anum, pronounced [sis]. stu is at rank #47,032, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [stʊ].

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 84234, this pair ranks #126,943 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sis vs stu

Shared letters: s. Private to "sis": i. Private to "stu": tu.

"sis" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "stu" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sis" and "stu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sis" is a num and "stu" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "sis" vs "stu" - which ranks higher?
"sis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,202 in our German list, against #47,032 for "stu". 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 "sis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #126,943 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sis" and "stu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs stu". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #126,943 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