StärkevsStürzeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,998
“Stärke” frequency rank
#27,960
“Stürze” frequency rank
30958
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stärke Stürze
Definition Kraft, Macht, Potenz, Vermögen, insbesondere Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Sturz

Where the eye mixes Stärke and Stürze

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Stärke and Stürze follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Stärke
6 ch
Stürze

Look-alike desk: Stärke vs Stürze

A purely visual mix-up. Stärke ([ˈʃtɛʁkə]) and Stürze ([ˈʃtʏʁt͡sə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30958, 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]. Stürze is at rank #27,960, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʏʁt͡sə].

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 30958, this pair ranks #1,737,599 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stärke vs Stürze

Shared letters: erst. Private to "Stärke": kä. Private to "Stürze": zü.

"Stärke" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Stürze" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Stärke" and "Stürze" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛʁkə] versus [ˈʃtʏʁt͡sə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Stärke" or "Stürze" show up more?
"Stärke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,998 in our German list, against #27,960 for "Stürze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Stärke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stürze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,737,599 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stärke" and "Stürze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sturms vs Stürze". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,737,599 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