starrtevsstörteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,067
“starrte” frequency rank
#23,328
“störte” frequency rank
50395
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature starrte störte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs starren 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stören

Where the eye mixes starrte and störte

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

7 ch
starrte
6 ch
störte

Look-alike desk: starrte vs störte

A purely visual mix-up. starrte ([ˈʃtaʁtə]) and störte ([ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50395, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

starrte is recorded at frequency rank #27,067, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaʁtə]. störte is at rank #23,328, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə].

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 50395, this pair ranks #1,175,277 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of starrte vs störte

Shared letters: erst. Private to "starrte": a. Private to "störte": ö.

"starrte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV  ·  "störte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • starrtesatrrte · sstarrte · starret · starrtte · strarte · sttarrte · tsarrte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "starrte" for "störte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaʁtə] versus [ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "starrte" or "störte" show up more?
"störte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,328 in our German list, against #27,067 for "starrte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "starrte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "störte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,175,277 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "starrte" and "störte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stärkte vs starrte". 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 #1,175,277 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