Which to use
“stechen” and “suchen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,986
- “stechen” frequency rank
- #574
- “suchen” frequency rank
- 10560
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stechen | suchen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen spitzen Gegenstand wie eine Nadel in einen anderen Gegenstand treiben | sich bemühen, etwas oder jemanden zu finden, das oder der verloren oder versteckt ist |
Where the eye mixes stechen and suchen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. stechen runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against suchen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between stechen and suchen
A purely visual mix-up. stechen ([ˈʃtɛçn̩]) and suchen ([ˈzuːxn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10560, 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]. suchen is at rank #574, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈzuːxn̩].
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 10560, this pair ranks #1,974,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stechen vs suchen
Shared letters: cehns. Private to "stechen": t. Private to "suchen": u.
"stechen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "suchen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stechen" and "suchen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "stechen" or "suchen"?
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 "stechen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "suchen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,974,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stechen" and "suchen" 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 #1,974,535 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.