StädtenvsStällenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,088
“Städten” frequency rank
#39,054
“Ställen” frequency rank
41142
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Städten Ställen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Stadt Dativ Plural des Substantivs Stall

Where the eye mixes Städten and Ställen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Städten and Ställen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Städten
7 ch
Ställen

Look-alike desk: Städten vs Ställen

A purely visual mix-up. Städten ([ˈʃtɛːtn̩]) and Ställen ([ˈʃtɛlən]) 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 41142, 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]. Ställen is at rank #39,054, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛlən].

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 41142, this pair ranks #1,488,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Städten vs Ställen

Shared letters: enstä. Private to "Städten": d. Private to "Ställen": l.

"Städten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Ställen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Städten" for "Ställen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛːtn̩] versus [ˈʃtɛlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Städten" vs "Ställen" - which ranks higher?
"Städten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,088 in our German list, against #39,054 for "Ställen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Städten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ställen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,488,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Städten" and "Ställen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ställen vs Stilen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,488,108 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