stehevssteigWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,179
“stehe” frequency rank
#17,420
“steig” frequency rank
19599
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stehe steig
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehen 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs steigen

Where the eye mixes stehe and steig

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

5 ch
stehe
5 ch
steig

Look-alike desk: stehe vs steig

A purely visual mix-up. stehe ([ˈʃteːə]) and steig ([ʃtaɪ̯k]) 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 19599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stehe is recorded at frequency rank #2,179, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːə]. steig is at rank #17,420, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtaɪ̯k].

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 19599, this pair ranks #1,906,641 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stehe vs steig

Shared letters: est. Private to "stehe": h. Private to "steig": gi.

"stehe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "steig" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stehesethe · sstehe · steeh · stehhe · sthee · sttehe · tsehe
  • steigsetig · ssteig · stegi · steigg · tseig

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stehe" and "steig" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃteːə] versus [ʃtaɪ̯k]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "stehe" or "steig"?
"stehe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,179 in our German list, against #17,420 for "steig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "stehe" and "steig" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stehe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "steig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,906,641 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stehe" and "steig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs steig". 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 #1,906,641 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