Which to use
“staut” is a verb and “Stift” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,044
- “staut” frequency rank
- #6,108
- “Stift” frequency rank
- 45152
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | staut | Stift |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stauen | künstlich hergestellter länglicher, meist zylindrischer Körper aus Metall oder Holz, oft mit einer Spitze, der vielfachen Verwendungsmöglichkeiten dient |
Where the eye mixes staut and Stift
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between staut and Stift
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: staut is [ʃtaʊ̯t] while Stift is [ʃtɪft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45152, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
staut is recorded at frequency rank #39,044, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtaʊ̯t]. Stift is at rank #6,108, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɪft].
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 45152, this pair ranks #1,362,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of staut vs Stift
Shared letters: st. Private to "staut": au. Private to "Stift": fi.
"staut" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "Stift" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "staut" and "Stift" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "staut" or "Stift" show up more?
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 "staut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Stift" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,362,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "staut" and "Stift" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "staunte vs staut". 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 #1,362,725 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.