starkesvsStarteTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#6,006
“starkes” frequency rank
#16,555
“Starte” frequency rank
22561
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature starkes Starte
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stark selten: Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Start

Where the eye mixes starkes and Starte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
starkes
6 ch
Starte

Why the eye confuses starkes with Starte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: starkes is [ˈʃtaʁkəs] while Starte is [ˈʃtaʁtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22561, 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]. Starte is at rank #16,555, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaʁtə].

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 22561, this pair ranks #1,872,681 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of starkes vs Starte

Shared letters: aerst. Private to "starkes": k. Private to "Starte": -.

"starkes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Starte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • starkessatrkes · sstarkes · stakres · stareks · starkess · starkkes · starkse · starrkes
  • Startesatrte · sstarte · staret · statre · strate · sttarte · tsarte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "starkes" for "Starte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "starkes" is an adjective and "Starte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "starkes" or "Starte" show up more?
"starkes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,006 in our German list, against #16,555 for "Starte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "starkes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Starte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,872,681 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "starkes" and "Starte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stärkte vs Starte". 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 #1,872,681 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