Which to use
“stehlen” is a verb and “steile” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,810
- “stehlen” frequency rank
- #14,421
- “steile” frequency rank
- 24231
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stehlen | steile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas aus dem Besitz eines anderen ohne dessen Einverständnis wegnehmen; einen Diebstahl begehen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steil |
Where the eye mixes stehlen and steile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: stehlen vs steile
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stehlen is [ˈʃteːlən] while steile is [ˈʃtaɪ̯lə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24231, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stehlen is recorded at frequency rank #9,810, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃteːlən]. 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 24231, this pair ranks #1,850,590 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stehlen vs steile
Shared letters: elst. Private to "stehlen": hn. Private to "steile": i.
"stehlen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "steile" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stehlen" and "steile" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "stehlen" or "steile" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "stehlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "steile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,850,590 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stehlen" and "steile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steile vs Stilen". 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 #1,850,590 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.