spürevsStufeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: spüre is a verb, Stufe is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“spüre” is a verb and “Stufe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,758
“spüre” frequency rank
#2,997
“Stufe” frequency rank
14755
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spüre Stufe
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spüren meist einzelner Teil einer Treppe, der zum Höher- oder Tiefersteigen dient, Trittfläche

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set spüre and Stufe apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
spüre
5 ch
Stufe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spüre is [ˈʃpyːʁə] while Stufe is [ˈʃtuːfə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 14755, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

spüre is recorded at frequency rank #11,758, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃpyːʁə]. Stufe is at rank #2,997, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtuːfə].

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 14755, this pair ranks #1,948,985 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of spüre vs Stufe

Shared letters: es. Private to "spüre": prü. Private to "Stufe": ftu.

"spüre" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Stufe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stufesstufe · stfue · sttufe · stuef · stuffe · sutfe · tsufe

Frequency comparison

spüre#11,758
Stufe#2,997

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "spüre" and "Stufe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "spüre" is a verb and "Stufe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "spüre" or "Stufe"?
"Stufe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,997 in our German list, against #11,758 for "spüre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering spüre vs Stufe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “spüre”; for a noun, it's “Stufe”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “spüre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list