StällevsStühleConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#34,926
“Ställe” frequency rank
#10,574
“Stühle” frequency rank
45500
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ställe Stühle
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stall Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stuhl

Where the eye mixes Ställe and Stühle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Ställe and Stühle follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Ställe
6 ch
Stühle

Why the eye confuses Ställe with Stühle

A purely visual mix-up. Ställe ([ˈʃtɛlə]) and Stühle ([ˈʃtyːlə]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45500, 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]. Stühle is at rank #10,574, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtyːlə].

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 45500, this pair ranks #1,350,904 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ställe vs Stühle

Shared letters: elst. Private to "Ställe": ä. Private to "Stühle": hü.

"Ställe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Stühle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ställe" and "Stühle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛlə] versus [ˈʃtyːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Ställe" or "Stühle"?
"Stühle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,574 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.

What to do next

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 "Stühle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,350,904 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ställe" and "Stühle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ställe vs staune". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,350,904 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