Which to use
“Ställen” is a noun and “starben” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,054
- “Ställen” frequency rank
- #5,883
- “starben” frequency rank
- 44937
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ställen | starben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Stall | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sterben |
Where the eye mixes Ställen and starben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Ställen vs starben
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ställen is [ˈʃtɛlən] while starben is [ˈʃtaʁbn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 44937, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Ställen is recorded at frequency rank #39,054, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛlən]. starben is at rank #5,883, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaʁbn̩].
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 44937, this pair ranks #1,369,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Ställen vs starben
Shared letters: enst. Private to "Ställen": lä. Private to "starben": abr.
"Ställen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "starben" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- starben ← satrben · sstarben · stabren · starbben · starbenn · starbne · starebn · starrben
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Ställen" and "starben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Ställen" or "starben" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Ställen" and "starben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Ställen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "starben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,369,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Ställen" and "starben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ställen 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 #1,369,792 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.