StarvsstärktWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Star is a noun, stärkt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Star” is a noun and “stärkt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,571
“Star” frequency rank
#11,979
“stärkt” frequency rank
13550
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Star stärkt
Definition ein Singvogel der gleichnamigen Familie 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stärken

Where the eye mixes Star and stärkt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Star runs 4 letters (CCVC) against stärkt's 6 (CCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Star
6 ch
stärkt

Visual trap between Star and stärkt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Star is [ʃtaːɐ̯] while stärkt is [ʃtɛʁkt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Star is recorded at frequency rank #1,571, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtaːɐ̯]. stärkt is at rank #11,979, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtɛʁkt].

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 13550, this pair ranks #1,957,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Star vs stärkt

Shared letters: rst. Private to "Star": a. Private to "stärkt": kä.

"Star" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "stärkt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Star ← satr · sstar · stra · sttar · tsar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Star" and "stärkt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Star" is a noun and "stärkt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Star" or "stärkt"?
"Star" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,571 in our German list, against #11,979 for "stärkt". 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 "Star" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stärkt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,957,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Star" and "stärkt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stärkt vs stärkte". 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 #1,957,266 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