Which to use
“stehle” and “sterbe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,045
- “stehle” frequency rank
- #9,988
- “sterbe” frequency rank
- 49033
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stehle | sterbe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehlen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sterben |
Where the eye mixes stehle and sterbe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. stehle and sterbe follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between stehle and sterbe
A purely visual mix-up. stehle ([ˈʃteːlə]) and sterbe ([ˈʃtɛʁbə]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49033, 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]. sterbe is at rank #9,988, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁbə].
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 49033, this pair ranks #1,226,532 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stehle vs sterbe
Shared letters: est. Private to "stehle": hl. Private to "sterbe": br.
"stehle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "sterbe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stehle" and "sterbe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "stehle" vs "sterbe" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "stehle" and "sterbe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "stehle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sterbe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,226,532 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stehle" and "sterbe" 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 #1,226,532 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.