Which to use
“steife” is an adjective and “steig” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,248
- “steife” frequency rank
- #17,420
- “steig” frequency rank
- 61668
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | steife | steig |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steif | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs steigen |
Where the eye mixes steife and steig
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: steife vs steig
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: steife is [ˈʃtaɪ̯fə] while steig is [ʃtaɪ̯k]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61668, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
steife is recorded at frequency rank #44,248, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯fə]. steig is at rank #17,420, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtaɪ̯k].
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 61668, this pair ranks #741,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of steife vs steig
Shared letters: eist. Private to "steife": f. Private to "steig": g.
"steife" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "steig" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "steife" and "steig" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "steife" or "steig" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "steife" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "steig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #741,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "steife" and "steig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steife vs Stele". 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 #741,095 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.