Which to use
“steil” is an adjective and “stell” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,636
- “steil” frequency rank
- #3,077
- “stell” frequency rank
- 12713
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | steil | stell |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von der Waagerechten stark abweichend, entweder ansteigend oder abfallend (auch figurativ) | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stellen |
Where the eye mixes steil and stell
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses steil with stell
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: steil is [ʃtaɪ̯l] while stell is [ʃtɛl]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “steil” becomes l in “stell”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
steil is recorded at frequency rank #9,636, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃtaɪ̯l]. stell is at rank #3,077, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtɛl].
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 12713, this pair ranks #1,962,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of steil vs stell
Shared letters: elst. Private to "steil": i. Private to "stell": -.
"steil" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "stell" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "steil" and "stell" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "steil" or "stell" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "steil" and "stell" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "steil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stell" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,962,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "steil" and "stell" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sil vs steil". 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 #1,962,483 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.