Which to use
“sprechen” and “stechen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #653
- “sprechen” frequency rank
- #9,986
- “stechen” frequency rank
- 10639
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sprechen | stechen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mündliche Äußerungen in Form von Lauten, Wörtern und/oder Sätzen von sich geben | einen spitzen Gegenstand wie eine Nadel in einen anderen Gegenstand treiben |
Where the eye mixes sprechen and stechen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. sprechen runs 8 letters (CCCVCCVC) against stechen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: sprechen vs stechen
A purely visual mix-up. sprechen ([ˈʃpʁɛçn̩]) and stechen ([ˈʃtɛçn̩]) 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 10639, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sprechen is recorded at frequency rank #653, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpʁɛçn̩]. stechen is at rank #9,986, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛçn̩].
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 10639, this pair ranks #1,974,100 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sprechen vs stechen
Shared letters: cehns. Private to "sprechen": pr. Private to "stechen": t.
"sprechen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC · "stechen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sprechen" and "stechen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "sprechen" or "stechen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sprechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stechen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,974,100 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sprechen" and "stechen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Speichen vs stechen". 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 #1,974,100 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.