StädtenvsStaudenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,088
“Städten” frequency rank
#40,861
“Stauden” frequency rank
42949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Städten Stauden
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Stadt Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Staude

Where the eye mixes Städten and Stauden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Städten (CCVCCVC) and Stauden (CCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
Städten
7 ch
Stauden

Look-alike desk: Städten vs Stauden

A purely visual mix-up. Städten ([ˈʃtɛːtn̩]) and Stauden ([ˈʃtaʊ̯dn̩]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42949, 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]. Stauden is at rank #40,861, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaʊ̯dn̩].

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 42949, this pair ranks #1,433,322 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Städten vs Stauden

Shared letters: denst. Private to "Städten": ä. Private to "Stauden": au.

"Städten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Stauden" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stauden ← satuden · sstauden · staduen · staudden · staudenn · staudne · stauedn · sttauden

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Städten" for "Stauden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛːtn̩] versus [ˈʃtaʊ̯dn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Städten" or "Stauden"?
"Städten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,088 in our German list, against #40,861 for "Stauden". 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 "Städten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stauden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,433,322 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Städten" and "Stauden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stauden vs Stuten". 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 #1,433,322 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