stehlevsStühleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: stehle is a verb, Stühle is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stehle” is a verb and “Stühle” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,045
“stehle” frequency rank
#10,574
“Stühle” frequency rank
49619
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stehle Stühle
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehlen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stuhl

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set stehle and Stühle apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
stehle
6 ch
Stühle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stehle is [ˈʃteːlə] while Stühle is [ˈʃtyːlə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “stehle” becomes ü in “Stühle”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49619, 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]. Stühle is at rank #10,574, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtyːlə].

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 49619, this pair ranks #1,204,619 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stehle vs Stühle

Shared letters: ehlst. Private to "stehle": -. Private to "Stühle": ü.

"stehle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Stühle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stehlesethle · sstehle · stehel · stehhle · stehlle · stelhe · sthele · sttehle

Frequency comparison

stehle#39,045
Stühle#10,574

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stehle" and "Stühle" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stehle" is a verb and "Stühle" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "stehle" or "Stühle"?
"Stühle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,574 in our German list, against #39,045 for "stehle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering stehle vs Stühle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “stehle”; for a noun, it's “Stühle”.
  • 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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list