Which to use
“stehlen” is a verb and “Steinen” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,810
- “stehlen” frequency rank
- #7,991
- “Steinen” frequency rank
- 17801
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stehlen | Steinen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas aus dem Besitz eines anderen ohne dessen Einverständnis wegnehmen; einen Diebstahl begehen | eine Gemeinde in Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland |
Where the eye mixes stehlen and Steinen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between stehlen and Steinen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stehlen is [ˈʃteːlən] while Steinen is [ˈʃtaɪ̯nən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17801, 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]. Steinen is at rank #7,991, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯nən].
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 17801, this pair ranks #1,924,125 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stehlen vs Steinen
Shared letters: enst. Private to "stehlen": hl. Private to "Steinen": i.
"stehlen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "Steinen" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stehlen" for "Steinen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "stehlen" vs "Steinen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "stehlen" and "Steinen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "stehlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Steinen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,924,125 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stehlen" and "Steinen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stehlen 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 #1,924,125 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.