sitzenvsstützenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,093
“sitzen” frequency rank
#8,789
“stützen” frequency rank
9882
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sitzen stützen
Definition sich mit dem Gesäß auf etwas niedergelassen haben jemanden, etwas (ab)sichern, zusätzlichen Halt geben

Where the eye mixes sitzen and stützen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
sitzen
7 ch
stützen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sitzen ([ˈzɪt͡sn̩]) and stützen ([ˈʃtʏt͡sn̩]) 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 9882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sitzen is recorded at frequency rank #1,093, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈzɪt͡sn̩]. stützen is at rank #8,789, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʏt͡sn̩].

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 9882, this pair ranks #1,977,837 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sitzen vs stützen

Shared letters: enstz. Private to "sitzen": i. Private to "stützen": ü.

"sitzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "stützen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sitzenistzen · sitezn · sittzen · sitzenn · sitzne · sitzzen · sizten · ssitzen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sitzen" and "stützen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzɪt͡sn̩] versus [ˈʃtʏt͡sn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sitzen" or "stützen"?
"sitzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,093 in our German list, against #8,789 for "stützen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "sitzen" and "stützen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sitzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stützen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,977,837 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sitzen" and "stützen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stuten vs stützen". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list