steigtvssteileWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: steigt is a verb, steile is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“steigt” is a verb and “steile” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,905
“steigt” frequency rank
#14,421
“steile” frequency rank
16326
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature steigt steile
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs steigen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steil

Where the eye mixes steigt and steile

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
steigt
6 ch
steile

Why the eye confuses steigt with steile

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: steigt is [ʃtaɪ̯kt] while steile is [ˈʃtaɪ̯lə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16326, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

steigt is recorded at frequency rank #1,905, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtaɪ̯kt]. 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 16326, this pair ranks #1,936,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of steigt vs steile

Shared letters: eist. Private to "steigt": g. Private to "steile": l.

"steigt" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC  ·  "steile" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • steigtsetigt · ssteigt · stegit · steiggt · steigtt · steitg · stiegt · stteigt
  • steilesetile · ssteile · steiel · steille · stelie · stiele · stteile · tseile

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "steigt" and "steile" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "steigt" is a verb and "steile" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "steigt" vs "steile" - which ranks higher?
"steigt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,905 in our German list, against #14,421 for "steile". 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 "steigt" 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 #1,936,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "steigt" 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 #1,936,778 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