Which to use
“starben” and “starten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,883
- “starben” frequency rank
- #1,990
- “starten” frequency rank
- 7873
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | starben | starten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs sterben | einen Vorgang beginnen |
Where the eye mixes starben and starten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between starben and starten
A purely visual mix-up. starben ([ˈʃtaʁbn̩]) and starten ([ˈʃtaʁtn̩]) 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 a single letter - b in “starben” becomes t in “starten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
starben is recorded at frequency rank #5,883, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaʁbn̩]. starten is at rank #1,990, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaʁtn̩].
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 7873, this pair ranks #1,986,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of starben vs starten
Shared letters: aenrst. Private to "starben": b. Private to "starten": -.
"starben" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "starten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "starben" and "starten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "starben" or "starten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "starben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "starten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,986,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "starben" and "starten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "starben vs Stuben". 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 #1,986,543 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.