startsvsSternsWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: starts is a verb, Sterns is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“starts” is a verb and “Sterns” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,904
“starts” frequency rank
#38,432
“Sterns” frequency rank
61336
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature starts Sterns
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs start Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stern

Letter map: starts vs Sterns

Shared letters muted; letters that set starts and Sterns apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. starts and Sterns follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
starts
6 ch
Sterns

Role in the sentence - starts and Sterns

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: starts is averb and Sternsanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

starts is recorded at frequency rank #22,904, classified as averb, pronounced […]. Sterns is at rank #38,432, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɛʁns].

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 61336, this pair ranks #753,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of starts vs Sterns

Shared letters: rst. Private to "starts": a. Private to "Sterns": en.

"starts" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "Sterns" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • starts ← satrts · sstarts · starrts · starst · startss · startts · statrs · strats
  • Sterns ← setrns · ssterns · stenrs · sternns · sternss · sterrns · stersn · strens

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "starts" and "Sterns" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "starts" is a verb and "Sterns" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "starts" or "Sterns"?
"starts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,904 in our German list, against #38,432 for "Sterns". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "starts" and "Sterns". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "starts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sterns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #753,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "starts" and "Sterns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steps vs Sterns". 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 #753,617 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