StegenvsstemmenTell them apart

Quick tell: Stegen is a name, stemmen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Stegen” is a name and “stemmen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,645
“Stegen” frequency rank
#20,417
“stemmen” frequency rank
60062
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stegen stemmen
Definition eine Gemeinde in Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland etwas Schweres in die Höhe heben

Where the eye mixes Stegen and stemmen

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

6 ch
Stegen
7 ch
stemmen

Look-alike desk: Stegen vs stemmen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stegen is [ˈʃteːɡn̩] while stemmen is [ˈʃtɛmən]. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stegen is recorded at frequency rank #39,645, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈʃteːɡn̩]. stemmen is at rank #20,417, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛmən].

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 60062, this pair ranks #801,040 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Stegen vs stemmen

Shared letters: enst. Private to "Stegen": g. Private to "stemmen": m.

"Stegen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "stemmen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stegen ← setgen · sstegen · steegn · stegenn · steggen · stegne · stgeen · sttegen
  • stemmen ← setmmen · sstemmen · stememn · stemen · stemmenn · stemmne · stmemen · sttemmen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Stegen" and "stemmen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Stegen" is a name and "stemmen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Stegen" or "stemmen" show up more?
"stemmen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,417 in our German list, against #39,645 for "Stegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stemmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #801,040 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stegen" and "stemmen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stegen 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 #801,040 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