stavsStasiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sta is a verb, Stasi is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sta” is a verb and “Stasi” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,707
“sta” frequency rank
#9,635
“Stasi” frequency rank
28342
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sta Stasi
Definition Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs star (unabhängig von Person und Numerus) Geheimpolizei der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, die im In- und Ausland operierte

Letter map: sta vs Stasi

Shared letters muted; letters that set sta and Stasi apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

3 ch
sta
5 ch
Stasi

Role in the sentence - sta and Stasi

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sta is averb and Stasianabbrev. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “sta” sits inside “Stasi”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sta is recorded at frequency rank #18,707, classified as averb, pronounced […]. Stasi is at rank #9,635, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [ˈʃtaːzi].

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 28342, this pair ranks #1,786,492 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sta vs Stasi

Shared letters: ast. Private to "sta": -. Private to "Stasi": i.

"sta" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "Stasi" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stasisatsi · sstasi · stais · stassi · stsai · sttasi · tsasi

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sta" and "Stasi" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sta" is a verb and "Stasi" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "sta" vs "Stasi" - which ranks higher?
"Stasi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,635 in our German list, against #18,707 for "sta". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "sta" and "Stasi".

  • Full dictionary entry for "sta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stasi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,786,492 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sta" and "Stasi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs sta". 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 #1,786,492 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