stevsSWRWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ste is a verb, SWR is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ste” is a verb and “SWR” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,778
“ste” frequency rank
#10,949
“SWR” frequency rank
36727
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ste SWR
Definition 2. Person Plural Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs biti Südwestrundfunk

Letter map: ste vs SWR

Shared letters muted; letters that set ste and SWR apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
ste
3 ch
SWR

Grammar separator: ste vs SWR

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ste is averb and SWRanabbrev. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ste is recorded at frequency rank #25,778, classified as averb, pronounced […]. SWR is at rank #10,949, tagged as anabbrev.

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 36727, this pair ranks #1,608,225 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ste vs SWR

Shared letters: s. Private to "ste": et. Private to "SWR": rw.

"ste" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "SWR" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ste" for "SWR" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ste" is a verb and "SWR" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ste" vs "SWR" - which ranks higher?
"SWR" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,949 in our German list, against #25,778 for "ste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "ste" and "SWR". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "SWR" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,608,225 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ste" and "SWR" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs ste". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,608,225 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