smallvsStälleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: small is a adjective, Ställe is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“small” is an adjective and “Ställe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,024
“small” frequency rank
#34,926
“Ställe” frequency rank
47950
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature small Ställe
Definition klein Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stall

Where the eye mixes small and Ställe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
small
6 ch
Ställe

Visual trap between small and Ställe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: small is [smɔːl] while Ställe is [ˈʃtɛlə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

small is recorded at frequency rank #13,024, classified as anadj, pronounced [smɔːl]. Ställe is at rank #34,926, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛlə].

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 47950, this pair ranks #1,266,133 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of small vs Ställe

Shared letters: ls. Private to "small": am. Private to "Ställe": etä.

"small" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Ställe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • smallmsall · samll · smal · smlal · smmall · ssmall

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "small" and "Ställe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "small" is an adjective and "Ställe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "small" vs "Ställe" - which ranks higher?
"small" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,024 in our German list, against #34,926 for "Ställe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "small" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ställe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,266,133 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "small" and "Ställe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ställe vs staune". 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 #1,266,133 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