Which to use
“steif” is an adjective and “Steine” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,946
- “steif” frequency rank
- #3,850
- “Steine” frequency rank
- 17796
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | steif | Steine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unbiegsam, fest, starr | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Stein |
Where the eye mixes steif and Steine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses steif with Steine
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: steif is [ʃtaɪ̯f] while Steine is [ˈʃtaɪ̯nə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17796, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
steif is recorded at frequency rank #13,946, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃtaɪ̯f]. Steine is at rank #3,850, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯nə].
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 17796, this pair ranks #1,924,173 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of steif vs Steine
Shared letters: eist. Private to "steif": f. Private to "Steine": n.
"steif" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "Steine" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "steif" and "Steine" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "steif" or "Steine" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "steif" and "Steine" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "steif" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Steine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,924,173 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "steif" and "Steine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steif vs steps". 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 #1,924,173 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.