Which to use
“stehle” and “stehlen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,045
- “stehle” frequency rank
- #9,810
- “stehlen” frequency rank
- 48855
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stehle | stehlen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehlen | etwas aus dem Besitz eines anderen ohne dessen Einverständnis wegnehmen; einen Diebstahl begehen |
Where the eye mixes stehle and stehlen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. stehle runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against stehlen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between stehle and stehlen
A purely visual mix-up. stehle ([ˈʃteːlə]) 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 differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “stehle” sits inside “stehlen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stehle is recorded at frequency rank #39,045, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːlə]. 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 48855, this pair ranks #1,233,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stehle vs stehlen
Shared letters: ehlst. Private to "stehle": -. Private to "stehlen": n.
"stehle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "stehlen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stehle" for "stehlen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "stehle" vs "stehlen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "stehle" 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 #1,233,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stehle" and "stehlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stehle vs Stuhls". 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 #1,233,098 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.