stehenvsStevensTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#297
“stehen” frequency rank
#13,032
“Stevens” frequency rank
13329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stehen Stevens
Definition sich auf den Beinen ohne Ortsveränderung aufhalten Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Steven

Where the eye mixes stehen and Stevens

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

6 ch
stehen
7 ch
Stevens

Look-alike desk: stehen vs Stevens

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stehen is [ˈʃteːən] while Stevens is [ˈʃteːvn̩s]. 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 13329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stehen is recorded at frequency rank #297, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːən]. Stevens is at rank #13,032, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃteːvn̩s].

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 13329, this pair ranks #1,958,676 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stehen vs Stevens

Shared letters: enst. Private to "stehen": h. Private to "Stevens": v.

"stehen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Stevens" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stehensethen · sstehen · steehn · stehenn · stehhen · stehne · stheen · sttehen
  • Stevenssetvens · sstevens · steevns · stevenns · stevenss · stevesn · stevnes · stevvens

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "stehen" and "Stevens" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stehen" is a verb and "Stevens" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "stehen" vs "Stevens" - which ranks higher?
"stehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #297 in our German list, against #13,032 for "Stevens". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "stehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stevens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,676 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stehen" and "Stevens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stelen vs Stevens". 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 #1,958,676 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