StaatesvsStädteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,685
“Staates” frequency rank
#1,748
“Städte” frequency rank
5433
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Staates Städte
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Staat Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stadt

Where the eye mixes Staates and Städte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Staates
6 ch
Städte

Why the eye confuses Staates with Städte

A purely visual mix-up. Staates ([ˈʃtaːtəs]) and Städte ([ˈʃtɛːtə]) 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 5433, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Staates is recorded at frequency rank #3,685, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaːtəs]. Städte is at rank #1,748, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛːtə].

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 5433, this pair ranks #1,994,763 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Staates vs Städte

Shared letters: est. Private to "Staates": a. Private to "Städte": .

"Staates" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "Städte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Staatessatates · sstaates · staaets · staatess · staatse · staattes · stataes · sttaates

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Staates" for "Städte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaːtəs] versus [ˈʃtɛːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Staates" vs "Städte" - which ranks higher?
"Städte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,748 in our German list, against #3,685 for "Staates". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Staates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Städte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,994,763 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Staates" and "Städte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Staates vs stattet". 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 #1,994,763 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