Which to use
“Stachel” is a noun and “stechen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,784
- “Stachel” frequency rank
- #9,986
- “stechen” frequency rank
- 40770
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Stachel | stechen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | spitzes Pflanzenteil, Auswuchs des Rindengewebes | einen spitzen Gegenstand wie eine Nadel in einen anderen Gegenstand treiben |
Where the eye mixes Stachel and stechen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Stachel and stechen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: Stachel vs stechen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stachel is [ˈʃtaxl̩] while stechen is [ˈʃtɛçn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40770, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Stachel is recorded at frequency rank #30,784, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaxl̩]. stechen is at rank #9,986, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛçn̩].
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 40770, this pair ranks #1,498,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Stachel vs stechen
Shared letters: cehst. Private to "Stachel": al. Private to "stechen": n.
"Stachel" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stechen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Stachel" for "stechen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Stachel" vs "stechen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Stachel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stechen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,498,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Stachel" and "stechen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sacher vs Stachel". 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 #1,498,802 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.