stärkervsstärkteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: stärker is a adjective, stärkte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stärker” is an adjective and “stärkte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,678
“stärker” frequency rank
#48,523
“stärkte” frequency rank
50201
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stärker stärkte
Definition Prädikative und adverbielle Form des Komparativs des Adjektivs stark 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stärken

Where the eye mixes stärker and stärkte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
stärker
7 ch
stärkte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stärker is [ˈʃtɛʁkɐ] while stärkte is [ˈʃtɛʁktə]. 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 50201, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stärker is recorded at frequency rank #1,678, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁkɐ]. stärkte is at rank #48,523, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁktə].

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 50201, this pair ranks #1,182,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stärker vs stärkte

Shared letters: ekrstä. Private to "stärker": -. Private to "stärkte": -.

"stärker" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "stärkte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stärker" and "stärkte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stärker" is an adjective and "stärkte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "stärker" or "stärkte"?
"stärker" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,678 in our German list, against #48,523 for "stärkte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list