stärkenvsStättenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#3,487
“stärken” frequency rank
#21,443
“Stätten” frequency rank
24930
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stärken Stätten
Definition stark, belastbar machen; kräftiger, leistungsfähiger machen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stätte

Where the eye mixes stärken and Stätten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. stärken and Stätten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
stärken
7 ch
Stätten

Look-alike desk: stärken vs Stätten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stärken is [ˈʃtɛʁkn̩] while Stätten is [ˈʃtɛtn̩]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24930, 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]. Stätten is at rank #21,443, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛtn̩].

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 24930, this pair ranks #1,840,570 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stärken vs Stätten

Shared letters: enstä. Private to "stärken": kr. Private to "Stätten": -.

"stärken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Stätten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stärken" and "Stätten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stärken" is a verb and "Stätten" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "stärken" or "Stätten" show up more?
"stärken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,487 in our German list, against #21,443 for "Stätten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Stätten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,840,570 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stärken" and "Stätten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stätten vs Stuten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,840,570 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