Which to use
“stärken” and “starre” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,487
- “stärken” frequency rank
- #18,710
- “starre” frequency rank
- 22197
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stärken | starre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | stark, belastbar machen; kräftiger, leistungsfähiger machen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs starren |
Where the eye mixes stärken and starre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. stärken runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against starre's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses stärken with starre
A purely visual mix-up. stärken ([ˈʃtɛʁkn̩]) and starre ([ˈʃtaʁə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22197, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stärken is recorded at frequency rank #3,487, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁkn̩]. starre is at rank #18,710, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaʁə].
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 22197, this pair ranks #1,877,104 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stärken vs starre
Shared letters: erst. Private to "stärken": knä. Private to "starre": a.
"stärken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "starre" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- starre ← satrre · sstarre · stare · starer · strare · sttarre · tsarre
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stärken" and "starre" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "stärken" or "starre" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "stärken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "starre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,877,104 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stärken" and "starre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stärkte vs starre". 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 #1,877,104 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.