stehenvssteuernConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#297
“stehen” frequency rank
#2,042
“steuern” frequency rank
2339
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stehen steuern
Definition sich auf den Beinen ohne Ortsveränderung aufhalten ein Fahrzeug oder ein technisches Gerät lenken

Where the eye mixes stehen and steuern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
stehen
7 ch
steuern

Look-alike desk: stehen vs steuern

A purely visual mix-up. stehen ([ˈʃteːən]) and steuern ([ˈʃtɔɪ̯ɐn]) 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 2339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stehen is recorded at frequency rank #297, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːən]. steuern is at rank #2,042, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɔɪ̯ɐn].

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 2339, this pair ranks #2,002,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stehen vs steuern

Shared letters: enst. Private to "stehen": h. Private to "steuern": ru.

"stehen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "steuern" · 7 letters · shape CCVVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stehensethen · sstehen · steehn · stehenn · stehhen · stehne · stheen · sttehen
  • steuernsetuern · ssteuern · steeurn · steuenr · steuernn · steuerrn · steuren · stteuern

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stehen" and "steuern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃteːən] versus [ˈʃtɔɪ̯ɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "stehen" vs "steuern" - which ranks higher?
"stehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #297 in our German list, against #2,042 for "steuern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "stehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "steuern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,002,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stehen" and "steuern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stehen 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 #2,002,581 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