Which to use
“stechen” and “stehe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,986
- “stechen” frequency rank
- #2,179
- “stehe” frequency rank
- 12165
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stechen | stehe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen spitzen Gegenstand wie eine Nadel in einen anderen Gegenstand treiben | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehen |
Where the eye mixes stechen and stehe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses stechen with stehe
A purely visual mix-up. stechen ([ˈʃtɛçn̩]) and stehe ([ˈʃteːə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stechen is recorded at frequency rank #9,986, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛçn̩]. stehe is at rank #2,179, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːə].
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 12165, this pair ranks #1,965,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stechen vs stehe
Shared letters: ehst. Private to "stechen": cn. Private to "stehe": -.
"stechen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stehe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stechen" and "stehe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "stechen" or "stehe" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "stechen" and "stehe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "stechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stehe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,965,795 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stechen" and "stehe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Speichen vs stechen". 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 #1,965,795 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.