Which to use
“steife” is an adjective and “steigt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,248
- “steife” frequency rank
- #1,905
- “steigt” frequency rank
- 46153
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | steife | steigt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steif | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs steigen |
Where the eye mixes steife and steigt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses steife with steigt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: steife is [ˈʃtaɪ̯fə] while steigt is [ʃtaɪ̯kt]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46153, 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]. steigt is at rank #1,905, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtaɪ̯kt].
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 46153, this pair ranks #1,328,788 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of steife vs steigt
Shared letters: eist. Private to "steife": f. Private to "steigt": g.
"steife" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "steigt" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "steife" for "steigt" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "steife" or "steigt" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "steife" and "steigt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "steife" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "steigt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,328,788 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "steife" and "steigt" 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 #1,328,788 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.