steckvsstehnTell them apart

Which to use

“steck” and “stehn” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,397
“steck” frequency rank
#24,938
“stehn” frequency rank
43335
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature steck stehn
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stecken stehen

Where the eye mixes steck and stehn

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
steck
5 ch
stehn

Visual trap between steck and stehn

A purely visual mix-up. steck ([ʃtɛk]) and stehn ([ʃteːn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43335, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

steck is recorded at frequency rank #18,397, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtɛk]. stehn is at rank #24,938, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃteːn].

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 43335, this pair ranks #1,421,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of steck vs stehn

Shared letters: est. Private to "steck": ck. Private to "stehn": hn.

"steck" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "stehn" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stecksetck · ssteck · stcek · stecck · steckk · stekc · stteck · tseck
  • stehnsethn · sstehn · stehhn · stehnn · stenh · sthen · sttehn · tsehn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "steck" for "stehn" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtɛk] versus [ʃteːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "steck" or "stehn"?
"steck" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,397 in our German list, against #24,938 for "stehn". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "steck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stehn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,421,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "steck" and "stehn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stehn vs steps". 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 #1,421,300 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