StaatenvsStällenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#978
“Staaten” frequency rank
#39,054
“Ställen” frequency rank
40032
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Staaten Ställen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Staat Dativ Plural des Substantivs Stall

Where the eye mixes Staaten and Ställen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Staaten (CCVVCVC) and Ställen (CCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
Staaten
7 ch
Ställen

Why the eye confuses Staaten with Ställen

A purely visual mix-up. Staaten ([ˈʃtaːtn̩]) and Ställen ([ˈʃtɛlən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40032, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Staaten is recorded at frequency rank #978, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaːtn̩]. Ställen is at rank #39,054, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛlən].

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 40032, this pair ranks #1,519,928 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Staaten vs Ställen

Shared letters: enst. Private to "Staaten": a. Private to "Ställen": lä.

"Staaten" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "Ställen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Staaten ← sataten · sstaaten · staaetn · staatenn · staatne · staatten · stataen · staten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Staaten" and "Ställen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaːtn̩] versus [ˈʃtɛlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Staaten" or "Ställen"?
"Staaten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #978 in our German list, against #39,054 for "Ställen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Staaten" and "Ställen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Staaten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ställen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,519,928 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Staaten" and "Ställen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ställen 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 #1,519,928 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