StäbevsStädteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,472
“Stäbe” frequency rank
#1,748
“Städte” frequency rank
37220
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stäbe Städte
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stab Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stadt

Where the eye mixes Stäbe and Städte

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

5 ch
Stäbe
6 ch
Städte

Why the eye confuses Stäbe with Städte

A purely visual mix-up. Stäbe ([ˈʃtɛːbə]) 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 37220, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stäbe is recorded at frequency rank #35,472, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛːbə]. 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 37220, this pair ranks #1,595,800 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stäbe vs Städte

Shared letters: estä. Private to "Stäbe": b. Private to "Städte": d.

"Stäbe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Städte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Stäbe" and "Städte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛːbə] versus [ˈʃtɛːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Stäbe" 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 #35,472 for "Stäbe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stäbe" 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 #1,595,800 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stäbe" and "Städte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stäbe vs Stuben". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,595,800 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