steigernvssteigertTell them apart

Which to use

“steigern” and “steigert” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,428
“steigern” frequency rank
#10,946
“steigert” frequency rank
16374
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature steigern steigert
Definition etwas oder sich größer, stärker, intensiver oder höher machen oder dazu bringen, es zu werden 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs steigern

Where the eye mixes steigern and steigert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
steigern
8 ch
steigert

Visual trap between steigern and steigert

A purely visual mix-up. steigern ([ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐn]) and steigert ([ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - n in “steigern” becomes t in “steigert”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16374, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

steigern is recorded at frequency rank #5,428, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐn]. steigert is at rank #10,946, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐt].

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 16374, this pair ranks #1,936,382 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of steigern vs steigert

Shared letters: egirst. Private to "steigern": n. Private to "steigert": -.

"steigern" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC  ·  "steigert" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • steigernsetigern · ssteigern · stegiern · steiegrn · steigenr · steigernn · steigerrn · steiggern
  • steigertsetigert · ssteigert · stegiert · steiegrt · steigerrt · steigertt · steigetr · steiggert

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "steigern" and "steigert" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐn] versus [ˈʃtaɪ̯ɡɐt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "steigern" or "steigert" show up more?
"steigern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,428 in our German list, against #10,946 for "steigert". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "steigern" and "steigert" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "steigern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "steigert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,936,382 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "steigern" and "steigert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steigert 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 #1,936,382 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