SteigervssteterWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Steiger is a noun, steter is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Steiger” is a noun and “steter” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,280
“Steiger” frequency rank
#47,025
“steter” frequency rank
78305
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Steiger steter
Definition eine Aufsichtsperson im Bergbau Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stet

Where the eye mixes Steiger and steter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Steiger
6 ch
steter

Why the eye confuses Steiger with steter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Steiger is [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐ] while steter is [ˈʃteːtɐ]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78305, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Steiger is recorded at frequency rank #31,280, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐ]. steter is at rank #47,025, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃteːtɐ].

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 78305, this pair ranks #241,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Steiger vs steter

Shared letters: erst. Private to "Steiger": gi. Private to "steter": -.

"Steiger" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "steter" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Steigersetiger · ssteiger · stegier · steiegr · steigerr · steigger · steigre · stieger
  • stetersetter · ssteter · steetr · steterr · stetre · stetter · stteer · stteter

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Steiger" for "steter" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Steiger" is a noun and "steter" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Steiger" or "steter" show up more?
"Steiger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,280 in our German list, against #47,025 for "steter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Steiger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "steter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #241,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Steiger" and "steter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steter vs Stuten". 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 #241,278 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list