Which to use
“stehlen” and “sterben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,810
- “stehlen” frequency rank
- #1,336
- “sterben” frequency rank
- 11146
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stehlen | sterben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas aus dem Besitz eines anderen ohne dessen Einverständnis wegnehmen; einen Diebstahl begehen | aufhören zu leben |
Where the eye mixes stehlen and sterben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. stehlen and sterben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between stehlen and sterben
A purely visual mix-up. stehlen ([ˈʃteːlən]) and sterben ([ˈʃtɛʁbn̩]) 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 11146, 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]. sterben is at rank #1,336, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁbn̩].
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 11146, this pair ranks #1,971,452 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stehlen vs sterben
Shared letters: enst. Private to "stehlen": hl. Private to "sterben": br.
"stehlen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "sterben" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stehlen" for "sterben" ever safe?
Frequency check: "stehlen" vs "sterben" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "sterben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,971,452 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stehlen" and "sterben" 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 #1,971,452 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.