StärkevsstarrtTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#2,998
“Stärke” frequency rank
#24,135
“starrt” frequency rank
27133
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stärke starrt
Definition Kraft, Macht, Potenz, Vermögen, insbesondere 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs starren

Where the eye mixes Stärke and starrt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Stärke (CCVCCV) and starrt (CCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Stärke
6 ch
starrt

Why the eye confuses Stärke with starrt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stärke is [ˈʃtɛʁkə] while starrt is [ʃtaʁt]. 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 27133, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stärke is recorded at frequency rank #2,998, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁkə]. starrt is at rank #24,135, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtaʁt].

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 27133, this pair ranks #1,806,811 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stärke vs starrt

Shared letters: rst. Private to "Stärke": ekä. Private to "starrt": a.

"Stärke" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "starrt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • starrt ← satrrt · sstarrt · starrtt · startr · strart · sttarrt · tsarrt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Stärke" and "starrt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Stärke" is a noun and "starrt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Stärke" vs "starrt" - which ranks higher?
"Stärke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,998 in our German list, against #24,135 for "starrt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Stärke" and "starrt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stärke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "starrt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,806,811 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stärke" and "starrt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stärkte vs starrt". 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 #1,806,811 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