Which to use
“starkem” is an adjective and “stärken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,570
- “starkem” frequency rank
- #3,487
- “stärken” frequency rank
- 14057
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | starkem | stärken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stark | stark, belastbar machen; kräftiger, leistungsfähiger machen |
Where the eye mixes starkem and stärken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. starkem and stärken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses starkem with stärken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: starkem is [ˈʃtaʁkəm] while stärken is [ˈʃtɛʁkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14057, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
starkem is recorded at frequency rank #10,570, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaʁkəm]. stärken is at rank #3,487, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁkn̩].
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 14057, this pair ranks #1,953,858 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of starkem vs stärken
Shared letters: ekrst. Private to "starkem": am. Private to "stärken": nä.
"starkem" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stärken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- starkem ← satrkem · sstarkem · stakrem · starekm · starkemm · starkkem · starkme · starrkem
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "starkem" and "stärken" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "starkem" vs "stärken" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "starkem" and "stärken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "starkem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stärken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,953,858 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "starkem" and "stärken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "starkem 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 #1,953,858 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.