SteigervsstetigeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#31,280
“Steiger” frequency rank
#24,940
“stetige” frequency rank
56220
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Steiger stetige
Definition eine Aufsichtsperson im Bergbau Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stetig

Where the eye mixes Steiger and stetige

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Steiger
7 ch
stetige

Why the eye confuses Steiger with stetige

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Steiger is [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐ] while stetige is [ˈʃteːtɪɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56220, 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]. stetige is at rank #24,940, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃteːtɪɡə].

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 56220, this pair ranks #948,705 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Steiger vs stetige

Shared letters: egist. Private to "Steiger": r. Private to "stetige": -.

"Steiger" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "stetige" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Steigersetiger · ssteiger · stegier · steiegr · steigerr · steigger · steigre · stieger
  • stetigesettige · sstetige · steitge · stetgie · stetieg · stetigge · stettige · sttetige

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Steiger" for "stetige" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Steiger" is a noun and "stetige" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Steiger" or "stetige"?
"stetige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,940 in our German list, against #31,280 for "Steiger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Steiger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stetige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #948,705 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Steiger" and "stetige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Steiger vs steigst". 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 #948,705 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