Which to use
“ste” is a verb and “steif” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,778
- “ste” frequency rank
- #13,946
- “steif” frequency rank
- 39724
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ste | steif |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs biti | unbiegsam, fest, starr |
Letter map: ste vs steif
Shared letters muted; letters that set ste and steif apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Grammar separator: ste vs steif
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ste is averb and steifanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ste” sits inside “steif”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39724, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ste is recorded at frequency rank #25,778, classified as averb, pronounced […]. steif is at rank #13,946, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃtaɪ̯f].
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 39724, this pair ranks #1,528,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ste vs steif
Shared letters: est. Private to "ste": -. Private to "steif": fi.
"ste" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "steif" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- steif ← setif · ssteif · stefi · steiff · stief · stteif · tseif
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ste" for "steif" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ste" or "steif" show up more?
After this comparison
You've compared "ste" and "steif". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "ste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "steif" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,528,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ste" and "steif" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs ste". 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 #1,528,747 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.