StällevsSteleTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,926
“Ställe” frequency rank
#40,226
“Stele” frequency rank
75152
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ställe Stele
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stall Grabstein, Gedenkstein der Antike, Pfeiler mit einer Inschrift- oder Bildtafel; heute auch moderne freistehende Informationstafel

Where the eye mixes Ställe and Stele

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Ställe runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against Stele's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Ställe
5 ch
Stele

Why the eye confuses Ställe with Stele

A purely visual mix-up. Ställe ([ˈʃtɛlə]) and Stele ([ˈʃteːlə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75152, 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]. Stele is at rank #40,226, tagged as anoun, 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 75152, this pair ranks #315,199 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Ställe vs Stele

Shared letters: elst. Private to "Ställe": ä. Private to "Stele": -.

"Ställe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Stele" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stele ← setle · sstele · stlee · sttele · tsele

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ställe" and "Stele" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛlə] versus [ˈʃteːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Ställe" or "Stele"?
"Ställe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,926 in our German list, against #40,226 for "Stele". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Stele" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #315,199 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ställe" and "Stele" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stele vs Stilen". 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 #315,199 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