Which to use
“steig” is a verb and “steril” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,420
- “steig” frequency rank
- #35,465
- “steril” frequency rank
- 52885
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | steig | steril |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs steigen | ohne Krankheitskeime |
Where the eye mixes steig and steril
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. steig runs 5 letters (CCVVC) against steril's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses steig with steril
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: steig is [ʃtaɪ̯k] while steril is [ˌʃteˈʁiːl]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
steig is recorded at frequency rank #17,420, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtaɪ̯k]. steril is at rank #35,465, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌʃteˈʁiːl].
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 52885, this pair ranks #1,079,485 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of steig vs steril
Shared letters: eist. Private to "steig": g. Private to "steril": lr.
"steig" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "steril" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "steig" for "steril" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "steig" or "steril" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "steig" and "steril" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "steig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "steril" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,079,485 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "steig" and "steril" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steril vs storia". 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 #1,079,485 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.