stehendevsSterbendeWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: stehende is a adjective, Sterbende is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stehende” is an adjective and “Sterbende” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,107
“stehende” frequency rank
#31,808
“Sterbende” frequency rank
37915
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stehende Sterbende
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stehend weibliche Person, die so krank oder verletzt (siehe auch: sterbenskrank) ist, dass sie in wenigen Stunden oder Tagen sterben (= das Leben beenden, ableben) wird

Where the eye mixes stehende and Sterbende

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. stehende runs 8 letters (CCVCVCCV) against Sterbende's 9 (CCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
stehende
9 ch
Sterbende

Visual trap between stehende and Sterbende

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stehende is [ˈʃteːəndə] while Sterbende is [ˈʃtɛʁbn̩də]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37915, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stehende is recorded at frequency rank #6,107, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃteːəndə]. Sterbende is at rank #31,808, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁbn̩də].

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 37915, this pair ranks #1,577,756 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stehende vs Sterbende

Shared letters: denst. Private to "stehende": h. Private to "Sterbende": br.

"stehende" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV  ·  "Sterbende" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stehende ← sethende · sstehende · steehnde · stehedne · stehendde · stehened · stehennde · stehhende
  • Sterbende ← setrbende · ssterbende · stebrende · sterbbende · sterbedne · sterbendde · sterbened · sterbennde

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stehende" and "Sterbende" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stehende" is an adjective and "Sterbende" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "stehende" or "Sterbende"?
"stehende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,107 in our German list, against #31,808 for "Sterbende". 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 "stehende" and "Sterbende" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stehende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sterbende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,577,756 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stehende" and "Sterbende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sterbende vs störende". 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 #1,577,756 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