stärktevsstaunteTell them apart

Which to use

“stärkte” and “staunte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,523
“stärkte” frequency rank
#47,748
“staunte” frequency rank
96271
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stärkte staunte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stärken 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs staunen

Where the eye mixes stärkte and staunte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. stärkte (CCVCCCV) and staunte (CCVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
stärkte
7 ch
staunte

Look-alike desk: stärkte vs staunte

A purely visual mix-up. stärkte ([ˈʃtɛʁktə]) and staunte ([ˈʃtaʊ̯ntə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 96271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stärkte is recorded at frequency rank #48,523, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁktə]. staunte is at rank #47,748, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaʊ̯ntə].

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 96271, this pair ranks #7,976 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of stärkte vs staunte

Shared letters: est. Private to "stärkte": krä. Private to "staunte": anu.

"stärkte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV  ·  "staunte" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • staunte ← satunte · sstaunte · stanute · staunet · staunnte · stauntte · stautne · sttaunte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "stärkte" for "staunte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛʁktə] versus [ˈʃtaʊ̯ntə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "stärkte" or "staunte" show up more?
"staunte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #47,748 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.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stärkte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "staunte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,976 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stärkte" and "staunte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stärkster vs stärkte". 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 #7,976 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