StegvsSteleConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,419
“Steg” frequency rank
#40,226
“Stele” frequency rank
57645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Steg Stele
Definition eine kleine Brücke Grabstein, Gedenkstein der Antike, Pfeiler mit einer Inschrift- oder Bildtafel; heute auch moderne freistehende Informationstafel

Where the eye mixes Steg and Stele

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

4 ch
Steg
5 ch
Stele

Look-alike desk: Steg vs Stele

A purely visual mix-up. Steg ([ʃteːk]) and Stele ([ˈʃteːlə]) 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 57645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Steg is recorded at frequency rank #17,419, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃteːk]. Stele is at rank #40,226, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃteːlə].

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 57645, this pair ranks #893,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Steg vs Stele

Shared letters: est. Private to "Steg": g. Private to "Stele": l.

"Steg" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Stele" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stegsetg · ssteg · stegg · stge · stteg · tseg
  • Stelesetle · sstele · stlee · sttele · tsele

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Steg" for "Stele" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃteːk] versus [ˈʃteːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Steg" vs "Stele" - which ranks higher?
"Steg" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,419 in our German list, against #40,226 for "Stele". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Steg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stele" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #893,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Steg" and "Stele" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stele vs Stilen". 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 #893,300 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