stärktevsstürmteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#48,523
“stärkte” frequency rank
#27,959
“stürmte” frequency rank
76482
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stärkte stürmte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stärken 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stürmen

Where the eye mixes stärkte and stürmte

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

7 ch
stärkte
7 ch
stürmte

Look-alike desk: stärkte vs stürmte

A purely visual mix-up. stärkte ([ˈʃtɛʁktə]) and stürmte ([ˈʃtʏʁmtə]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76482, 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]. stürmte is at rank #27,959, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʏʁmtə].

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 76482, this pair ranks #282,860 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of stärkte vs stürmte

Shared letters: erst. Private to "stärkte": kä. Private to "stürmte": mü.

"stärkte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV  ·  "stürmte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stärkte" and "stürmte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛʁktə] versus [ˈʃtʏʁmtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "stärkte" or "stürmte" show up more?
"stürmte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,959 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.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "stärkte" and "stürmte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stärkte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stürmte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #282,860 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stärkte" and "stürmte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stärkster vs stärkte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #282,860 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