StällenvsStelleWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,054
“Ställen” frequency rank
#525
“Stelle” frequency rank
39579
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ställen Stelle
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Stall berufliche Anstellung; Arbeitsplatz

Where the eye mixes Ställen and Stelle

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

7 ch
Ställen
6 ch
Stelle

Visual trap between Ställen and Stelle

A purely visual mix-up. Ställen ([ˈʃtɛlən]) and Stelle ([ˈʃtɛlə]) 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 39579, 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]. Stelle is at rank #525, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛlə].

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 39579, this pair ranks #1,532,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ställen vs Stelle

Shared letters: elst. Private to "Ställen": nä. Private to "Stelle": -.

"Ställen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Stelle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stelle ← setlle · sstelle · stelel · stlele · sttelle · tselle

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ställen" for "Stelle" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛlən] versus [ˈʃtɛlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Ställen" vs "Stelle" - which ranks higher?
"Stelle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #525 in our German list, against #39,054 for "Ställen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Ställen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stelle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,532,840 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ställen" and "Stelle" 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 #1,532,840 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