Which to use
“Ställe” is a noun and “stehle” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,926
- “Ställe” frequency rank
- #39,045
- “stehle” frequency rank
- 73971
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ställe | stehle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stall | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehlen |
Where the eye mixes Ställe and stehle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Ställe and stehle follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Ställe and stehle
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ställe is [ˈʃtɛlə] while stehle is [ˈʃteːlə]. 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 73971, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Ställe is recorded at frequency rank #34,926, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛlə]. stehle is at rank #39,045, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːlə].
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 73971, this pair ranks #345,982 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Ställe vs stehle
Shared letters: elst. Private to "Ställe": ä. Private to "stehle": h.
"Ställe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "stehle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- stehle ← sethle · sstehle · stehel · stehhle · stehlle · stelhe · sthele · sttehle
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Ställe" and "stehle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Ställe" or "stehle"?
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 "Ställe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stehle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #345,982 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Ställe" and "stehle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stehle vs Stuhls". 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 #345,982 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.