Which to use
“spielt” and “stiehlt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #652
- “spielt” frequency rank
- #24,526
- “stiehlt” frequency rank
- 25178
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spielt | stiehlt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spielen | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehlen |
Where the eye mixes spielt and stiehlt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. spielt runs 6 letters (CCVVCC) against stiehlt's 7 (CCVVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses spielt with stiehlt
A purely visual mix-up. spielt ([ʃpiːlt]) and stiehlt ([ʃtiːlt]) 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 25178, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spielt is recorded at frequency rank #652, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃpiːlt]. stiehlt is at rank #24,526, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtiːlt].
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 25178, this pair ranks #1,837,065 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spielt vs stiehlt
Shared letters: eilst. Private to "spielt": p. Private to "stiehlt": h.
"spielt" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "stiehlt" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "spielt" and "stiehlt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "spielt" or "stiehlt" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "spielt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stiehlt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,837,065 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spielt" and "stiehlt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stehle vs stiehlt". 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 #1,837,065 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.