StädtenvsStettenTell them apart

Quick tell: Städten is a noun, Stetten is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Städten” is a noun and “Stetten” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,088
“Städten” frequency rank
#29,802
“Stetten” frequency rank
31890
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Städten Stetten
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Stadt häufiger Ortsname in Süddeutschland

Same sound, different letters: Städten vs Stetten

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. Städten and Stetten 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
Stetten

Ear matches; page differs - Städten and Stetten

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: Städten and Stetten carry the same recorded pronunciation, [ˈʃtɛːtn̩]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other aname, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31890, 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]. Stetten is at rank #29,802, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈʃtɛtn̩].

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 31890, this pair ranks #1,718,967 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Städten vs Stetten

Shared letters: enst. Private to "Städten": dä. Private to "Stetten": -.

"Städten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Stetten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stetten ← settten · sstetten · steten · stetetn · stettenn · stettne · stteten · sttetten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Städten" and "Stetten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Städten" is a noun and "Stetten" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Städten" or "Stetten"?
"Städten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,088 in our German list, against #29,802 for "Stetten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

You've separated the homophone pair "Städten" / "Stetten". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Städten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stetten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,718,967 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Städten" and "Stetten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stetten 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 #1,718,967 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