smartevsstörteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: smarte is a adjective, störte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“smarte” is an adjective and “störte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,823
“smarte” frequency rank
#23,328
“störte” frequency rank
57151
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature smarte störte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs smart 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stören

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set smarte and störte apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
smarte
6 ch
störte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: smarte is [ˈsmaːɐ̯tə] while störte is [ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

smarte is recorded at frequency rank #33,823, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈsmaːɐ̯tə]. störte is at rank #23,328, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə].

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 57151, this pair ranks #912,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of smarte vs störte

Shared letters: erst. Private to "smarte": am. Private to "störte": ö.

"smarte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "störte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • smartemsarte · samrte · smaret · smarrte · smartte · smatre · smmarte · smrate

Frequency comparison

smarte#33,823
störte#23,328

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "smarte" and "störte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "smarte" is an adjective and "störte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "smarte" or "störte"?
"störte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,328 in our German list, against #33,823 for "smarte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering smarte vs störte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “smarte”; for a verb, it's “störte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “smarte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list