Which to use
“spülen” is a verb and “Stelen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,072
- “spülen” frequency rank
- #46,297
- “Stelen” frequency rank
- 64369
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spülen | Stelen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas mit Wasser oder anderer Flüssigkeit waschen | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stele |
Where the eye mixes spülen and Stelen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. spülen and Stelen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: spülen vs Stelen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spülen is [ˈʃpyːlən] while Stelen is [ˈʃteːlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spülen is recorded at frequency rank #18,072, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpyːlən]. Stelen is at rank #46,297, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃteːlən].
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 64369, this pair ranks #644,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spülen vs Stelen
Shared letters: elns. Private to "spülen": pü. Private to "Stelen": t.
"spülen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "Stelen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Stelen ← sstelen · steeln · stelenn · stelne · stleen · sttelen · tselen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spülen" for "Stelen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "spülen" or "Stelen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "spülen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Stelen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #644,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spülen" and "Stelen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stelen vs Stilen". 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 #644,026 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.