snakevsStäbeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,940
“snake” frequency rank
#35,472
“Stäbe” frequency rank
63412
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature snake Stäbe
Definition Schlange Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stab

Where the eye mixes snake and Stäbe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
snake
5 ch
Stäbe

Look-alike desk: snake vs Stäbe

A purely visual mix-up. snake ([sneɪk]) and Stäbe ([ˈʃtɛːbə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63412, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

snake is recorded at frequency rank #27,940, classified as anoun, pronounced [sneɪk]. Stäbe is at rank #35,472, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛːbə].

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 63412, this pair ranks #677,711 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of snake vs Stäbe

Shared letters: es. Private to "snake": akn. Private to "Stäbe": btä.

"snake" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Stäbe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • snakensake · sanke · snaek · snakke · snkae · snnake · ssnake

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "snake" and "Stäbe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([sneɪk] versus [ˈʃtɛːbə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "snake" or "Stäbe"?
"snake" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,940 in our German list, against #35,472 for "Stäbe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "snake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stäbe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #677,711 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "snake" and "Stäbe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stäbe vs Stuben". 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 #677,711 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