StaatevsStäbeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#36,640
“Staate” frequency rank
#35,472
“Stäbe” frequency rank
72112
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Staate Stäbe
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Staat Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stab

Where the eye mixes Staate and Stäbe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Staate
5 ch
Stäbe

Visual trap between Staate and Stäbe

A purely visual mix-up. Staate ([ˈʃtaːtə]) and Stäbe ([ˈʃtɛːbə]) 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 72112, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Staate is recorded at frequency rank #36,640, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaːtə]. Stäbe is at rank #35,472, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛːbə].

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 72112, this pair ranks #397,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Staate vs Stäbe

Shared letters: est. Private to "Staate": a. Private to "Stäbe": .

"Staate" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "Stäbe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Staatesatate · sstaate · staaet · staatte · statae · sttaate · tsaate

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Staate" for "Stäbe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaːtə] versus [ˈʃtɛːbə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Staate" or "Stäbe" show up more?
"Stäbe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,472 in our German list, against #36,640 for "Staate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Staate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stäbe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #397,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Staate" and "Stäbe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Staate vs stärkte". 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 #397,510 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