StällevsStollenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,926
“Ställe” frequency rank
#17,422
“Stollen” frequency rank
52348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ställe Stollen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stall unterirdischer, waagerechter Gang

Where the eye mixes Ställe and Stollen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Ställe runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against Stollen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Ställe
7 ch
Stollen

Why the eye confuses Ställe with Stollen

A purely visual mix-up. Ställe ([ˈʃtɛlə]) and Stollen ([ˈʃtɔlən]) 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 52348, 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]. Stollen is at rank #17,422, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɔlən].

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 52348, this pair ranks #1,100,364 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ställe vs Stollen

Shared letters: elst. Private to "Ställe": ä. Private to "Stollen": no.

"Ställe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Stollen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stollen ← sotllen · sstollen · stlolen · stoleln · stolen · stollenn · stollne · sttollen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ställe" and "Stollen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛlə] versus [ˈʃtɔlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Ställe" or "Stollen"?
"Stollen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,422 in our German list, against #34,926 for "Ställe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ställe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stollen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,100,364 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ställe" and "Stollen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ställe vs staune". 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 #1,100,364 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