starkesvsstärkteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,006
“starkes” frequency rank
#48,523
“stärkte” frequency rank
54529
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature starkes stärkte
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stark 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stärken

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set starkes and stärkte apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
starkes
7 ch
stärkte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: starkes is [ˈʃtaʁkəs] while stärkte is [ˈʃtɛʁktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 54529, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

starkes is recorded at frequency rank #6,006, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaʁkəs]. 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 54529, this pair ranks #1,015,355 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of starkes vs stärkte

Shared letters: ekrst. Private to "starkes": a. Private to "stärkte": ä.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • starkessatrkes · sstarkes · stakres · stareks · starkess · starkkes · starkse · starrkes

Frequency comparison

starkes#6,006
stärkte#48,523

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "starkes" and "stärkte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "starkes" is an adjective and "stärkte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "starkes" or "stärkte"?
"starkes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,006 in our German list, against #48,523 for "stärkte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering starkes vs stärkte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “starkes”; for a verb, it's “stärkte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “starkes” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list