stehendvsstehlenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,595
“stehend” frequency rank
#9,810
“stehlen” frequency rank
22405
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stehend stehlen
Definition Partizip Präsens des Verbs stehen etwas aus dem Besitz eines anderen ohne dessen Einverständnis wegnehmen; einen Diebstahl begehen

Where the eye mixes stehend and stehlen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
stehend
7 ch
stehlen

Look-alike desk: stehend vs stehlen

A purely visual mix-up. stehend ([ˈʃteːənt]) and stehlen ([ˈʃteːlən]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22405, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stehend is recorded at frequency rank #12,595, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːənt]. stehlen is at rank #9,810, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːlən].

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 22405, this pair ranks #1,874,570 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stehend vs stehlen

Shared letters: ehnst. Private to "stehend": d. Private to "stehlen": l.

"stehend" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC  ·  "stehlen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stehendsethend · sstehend · steehnd · stehedn · stehendd · stehennd · stehhend · stehned
  • stehlensethlen · sstehlen · steheln · stehhlen · stehlenn · stehllen · stehlne · stelhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "stehend" for "stehlen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃteːənt] versus [ˈʃteːlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "stehend" or "stehlen"?
"stehlen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,810 in our German list, against #12,595 for "stehend". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "stehend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stehlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,874,570 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stehend" and "stehlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stehlen 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 #1,874,570 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