stavsstrafWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,707
“sta” frequency rank
#30,307
“straf” frequency rank
49014
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sta straf
Definition Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs star (unabhängig von Person und Numerus) 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs strafen

Letter map: sta vs straf

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

3 ch
sta
5 ch
straf

Corpus notes: sta and straf

sta and straf are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49014, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sta is recorded at frequency rank #18,707, classified as averb, pronounced […]. straf is at rank #30,307, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtʁaːf].

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 49014, this pair ranks #1,227,237 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sta vs straf

Shared letters: ast. Private to "sta": -. Private to "straf": fr.

"sta" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "straf" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • strafsrtaf · sstraf · starf · strfa · strraf · sttraf · tsraf

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sta" and "straf" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary German text, does "sta" or "straf" show up more?
"sta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,707 in our German list, against #30,307 for "straf". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "sta" vs "straf" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "straf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,227,237 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sta" and "straf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "straf vs Streu". 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 #1,227,237 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