snakevsStärkeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,940
“snake” frequency rank
#2,998
“Stärke” frequency rank
30938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature snake Stärke
Definition Schlange Kraft, Macht, Potenz, Vermögen, insbesondere

Where the eye mixes snake and Stärke

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

5 ch
snake
6 ch
Stärke

Look-alike desk: snake vs Stärke

A purely visual mix-up. snake ([sneɪk]) and Stärke ([ˈʃtɛʁkə]) 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 30938, 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]. Stärke is at rank #2,998, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁkə].

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 30938, this pair ranks #1,738,020 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of snake vs Stärke

Shared letters: eks. Private to "snake": an. Private to "Stärke": rtä.

"snake" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Stärke" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "snake" for "Stärke" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([sneɪk] versus [ˈʃtɛʁkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "snake" or "Stärke"?
"Stärke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,998 in our German list, against #27,940 for "snake". 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 "snake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stärke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,738,020 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "snake" and "Stärke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sake vs snake". 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 #1,738,020 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