Which to use
“Stau” is a noun and “staune” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,819
- “Stau” frequency rank
- #45,605
- “staune” frequency rank
- 53424
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Stau | staune |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | durch eine Behinderung oder ein Hindernis verursachte Störung des Durchflusses oder Durchgangs; Nomen acti: Ergebnis des Stauens | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs staunen |
Where the eye mixes Stau and staune
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Stau with staune
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stau is [ʃtaʊ̯] while staune is [ˈʃtaʊ̯nə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Stau” sits inside “staune”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Stau is recorded at frequency rank #7,819, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtaʊ̯]. staune is at rank #45,605, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaʊ̯nə].
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 53424, this pair ranks #1,058,569 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Stau vs staune
Shared letters: astu. Private to "Stau": -. Private to "staune": en.
"Stau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "staune" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Stau" for "staune" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Stau" vs "staune" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Stau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "staune" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,058,569 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Stau" and "staune" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "staune vs strunz". 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 #1,058,569 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.