Which to use
“stehle” is a verb and “steile” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,045
- “stehle” frequency rank
- #14,421
- “steile” frequency rank
- 53466
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stehle | steile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehlen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steil |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set stehle and steile apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
stehle and steile form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - h in “stehle” becomes i in “steile” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53466, 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]. steile is at rank #14,421, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯lə].
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 53466, this pair ranks #1,056,888 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stehle" and "steile" be used interchangeably?
Remembering stehle vs steile
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “stehle”; for an adjective, it's “steile”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “stehle” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable