Which to use
“steige” is a verb and “steile” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,491
- “steige” frequency rank
- #14,421
- “steile” frequency rank
- 27912
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | steige | steile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs steigen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steil |
Where the eye mixes steige and steile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between steige and steile
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: steige is [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡə] while steile is [ˈʃtaɪ̯lə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “steige” becomes l in “steile”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27912, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
steige is recorded at frequency rank #13,491, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡə]. steile is at rank #14,421, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯lə].
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 27912, this pair ranks #1,793,779 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of steige vs steile
Shared letters: eist. Private to "steige": g. Private to "steile": l.
"steige" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "steile" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "steige" and "steile" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "steige" vs "steile" - which ranks higher?
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 "steige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "steile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,793,779 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "steige" and "steile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steile 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 #1,793,779 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.