steckevsStückesWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: stecke is a verb, Stückes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stecke” is a verb and “Stückes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,004
“stecke” frequency rank
#25,335
“Stückes” frequency rank
41339
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stecke Stückes
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stecken Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stück

Where the eye mixes stecke and Stückes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. stecke runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against Stückes's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
stecke
7 ch
Stückes

Why the eye confuses stecke with Stückes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stecke is [ˈʃtɛkə] while Stückes is [ˈʃtʏkəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stecke is recorded at frequency rank #16,004, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛkə]. Stückes is at rank #25,335, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʏkəs].

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 41339, this pair ranks #1,482,433 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stecke vs Stückes

Shared letters: cekst. Private to "stecke": -. Private to "Stückes": ü.

"stecke" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Stückes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stecke ← setcke · sstecke · stceke · steccke · stecek · steckke · stekce · sttecke

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "stecke" and "Stückes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stecke" is a verb and "Stückes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "stecke" vs "Stückes" - which ranks higher?
"stecke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,004 in our German list, against #25,335 for "Stückes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stecke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stückes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,482,433 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stecke" and "Stückes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "strikes vs Stückes". 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 #1,482,433 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