StartvsSturzWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,094
“Start” frequency rank
#6,978
“Sturz” frequency rank
8072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Start Sturz
Definition absichtsvoller Beginn einer Tätigkeit/eines Projekts heftiger Fall auf den Boden oder in die Tiefe

Where the eye mixes Start and Sturz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Start
5 ch
Sturz

Visual trap between Start and Sturz

A purely visual mix-up. Start ([ʃtaʁt]) and Sturz ([ʃtʊʁt͡s]) 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 8072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Start is recorded at frequency rank #1,094, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtaʁt]. Sturz is at rank #6,978, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtʊʁt͡s].

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 8072, this pair ranks #1,985,739 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Start vs Sturz

Shared letters: rst. Private to "Start": a. Private to "Sturz": uz.

"Start" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Sturz" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Startsatrt · sstart · startt · statr · strat · sttart · tsart
  • Sturzssturz · struz · stturz · sturrz · sturzz · stuzr · sutrz · tsurz

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Start" for "Sturz" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtaʁt] versus [ʃtʊʁt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Start" or "Sturz"?
"Start" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,094 in our German list, against #6,978 for "Sturz". 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 "Start" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sturz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,985,739 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Start" and "Sturz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "strunz vs Sturz". 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 #1,985,739 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