stachvsstautTell them apart

Which to use

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

#22,901
“stach” frequency rank
#39,044
“staut” frequency rank
61945
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stach staut
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stechen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stauen

Where the eye mixes stach and staut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. stach (CCVCC) and staut (CCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
stach
5 ch
staut

Visual trap between stach and staut

A purely visual mix-up. stach ([ʃtaːx]) and staut ([ʃtaʊ̯t]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stach is recorded at frequency rank #22,901, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtaːx]. staut is at rank #39,044, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtaʊ̯t].

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 61945, this pair ranks #730,921 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stach vs staut

Shared letters: ast. Private to "stach": ch. Private to "staut": u.

"stach" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "staut" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stach ← satch · sstach · stacch · stachh · stahc · stcah · sttach · tsach
  • staut ← satut · sstaut · statu · stautt · sttaut · stuat · tsaut

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stach" and "staut" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtaːx] versus [ʃtaʊ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "stach" vs "staut" - which ranks higher?
"stach" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,901 in our German list, against #39,044 for "staut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "stach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "staut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #730,921 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stach" and "staut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "staunte vs staut". 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 #730,921 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