startetevsstifteteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,539
“startete” frequency rank
#42,847
“stiftete” frequency rank
48386
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature startete stiftete
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs starten 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stiften

Where the eye mixes startete and stiftete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. startete and stiftete follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
startete
8 ch
stiftete

Look-alike desk: startete vs stiftete

A purely visual mix-up. startete ([ˈʃtaʁtətə]) and stiftete ([ˈʃtɪftətə]) 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 48386, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

startete is recorded at frequency rank #5,539, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaʁtətə]. stiftete is at rank #42,847, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɪftətə].

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 48386, this pair ranks #1,250,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of startete vs stiftete

Shared letters: est. Private to "startete": ar. Private to "stiftete": fi.

"startete" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV  ·  "stiftete" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • startete ← satrtete · sstartete · starette · starrtete · starteet · startette · starttee · starttete
  • stiftete ← sitftete · sstiftete · stfitete · stifette · stifftete · stifteet · stiftette · stifttee

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "startete" for "stiftete" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaʁtətə] versus [ˈʃtɪftətə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "startete" or "stiftete" show up more?
"startete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,539 in our German list, against #42,847 for "stiftete". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "startete" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stiftete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,250,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "startete" and "stiftete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stattete vs stiftete". 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 #1,250,420 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