StabvsStabesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,269
“Stab” frequency rank
#42,145
“Stabes” frequency rank
51414
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stab Stabes
Definition länglicher zylindrischer Gegenstand Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stab

Where the eye mixes Stab and Stabes

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

4 ch
Stab
6 ch
Stabes

Why the eye confuses Stab with Stabes

A purely visual mix-up. Stab ([ʃtaːp]) and Stabes ([ˈʃtaːbəs]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Stab” sits inside “Stabes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stab is recorded at frequency rank #9,269, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtaːp]. Stabes is at rank #42,145, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaːbəs].

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 51414, this pair ranks #1,136,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Stab vs Stabes

Shared letters: abst. Private to "Stab": -. Private to "Stabes": e.

"Stab" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Stabes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stabsatb · sstab · stabb · stba · sttab · tsab
  • Stabessatbes · sstabes · stabbes · stabess · stabse · staebs · stbaes · sttabes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Stab" and "Stabes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtaːp] versus [ˈʃtaːbəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Stab" or "Stabes" show up more?
"Stab" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,269 in our German list, against #42,145 for "Stabes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stabes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,136,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stab" and "Stabes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stabes vs Stuben". 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 #1,136,448 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