StädtenvsStädterTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,088
“Städten” frequency rank
#36,046
“Städter” frequency rank
38134
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Städten Städter
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Stadt Person, die in einer Stadt lebt

Where the eye mixes Städten and Städter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Städten
7 ch
Städter

Why the eye confuses Städten with Städter

A purely visual mix-up. Städten ([ˈʃtɛːtn̩]) and Städter ([ˈʃtɛːtɐ]) 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 a single letter - n in “Städten” becomes r in “Städter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Städten is recorded at frequency rank #2,088, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛːtn̩]. Städter is at rank #36,046, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛːtɐ].

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 38134, this pair ranks #1,571,915 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Städten vs Städter

Shared letters: destä. Private to "Städten": n. Private to "Städter": r.

"Städten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Städter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Städten" and "Städter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛːtn̩] versus [ˈʃtɛːtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Städten" or "Städter"?
"Städten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,088 in our German list, against #36,046 for "Städter". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Städten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Städter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,571,915 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Städten" and "Städter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Städter vs stattet". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,571,915 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