StämmevsSummeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,183
“Stämme” frequency rank
#2,923
“Summe” frequency rank
13106
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stämme Summe
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stamm Ergebnis einer Addition mehrerer Zahlen

Where the eye mixes Stämme and Summe

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

6 ch
Stämme
5 ch
Summe

Visual trap between Stämme and Summe

A purely visual mix-up. Stämme ([ˈʃtɛmə]) and Summe ([ˈzʊmə]) 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 13106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stämme is recorded at frequency rank #10,183, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛmə]. Summe is at rank #2,923, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzʊmə].

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 13106, this pair ranks #1,960,087 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stämme vs Summe

Shared letters: ems. Private to "Stämme": tä. Private to "Summe": u.

"Stämme" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Summe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Summe ← smume · ssumme · sume · sumem · usmme

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Stämme" and "Summe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛmə] versus [ˈzʊmə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Stämme" or "Summe"?
"Summe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,923 in our German list, against #10,183 for "Stämme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stämme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Summe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,960,087 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stämme" and "Summe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stämme vs stemmt". 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 #1,960,087 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