sprichtvsstichtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#676
“spricht” frequency rank
#13,948
“sticht” frequency rank
14624
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spricht sticht
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sprechen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stechen

Where the eye mixes spricht and sticht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
spricht
6 ch
sticht

Visual trap between spricht and sticht

A purely visual mix-up. spricht ([ʃpʁɪçt]) and sticht ([ʃtɪçt]) 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 14624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spricht is recorded at frequency rank #676, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃpʁɪçt]. sticht is at rank #13,948, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪçt].

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 14624, this pair ranks #1,949,901 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of spricht vs sticht

Shared letters: chist. Private to "spricht": pr. Private to "sticht": -.

"spricht" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCC  ·  "sticht" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sprichtpsricht · spircht · sppricht · sprciht · spriccht · sprichht · sprichtt · spricth
  • stichtsitcht · ssticht · stciht · sticcht · stichht · stichtt · sticth · stihct

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "spricht" for "sticht" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃpʁɪçt] versus [ʃtɪçt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "spricht" vs "sticht" - which ranks higher?
"spricht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #676 in our German list, against #13,948 for "sticht". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "spricht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sticht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,949,901 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spricht" and "sticht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stichen vs sticht". 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 #1,949,901 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