Which to use
“steile” is an adjective and “Sterne” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,421
- “steile” frequency rank
- #2,992
- “Sterne” frequency rank
- 17413
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | steile | Sterne |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steil | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Stern |
Where the eye mixes steile and Sterne
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: steile vs Sterne
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: steile is [ˈʃtaɪ̯lə] while Sterne is [ˈʃtɛʁnə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
steile is recorded at frequency rank #14,421, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯lə]. Sterne is at rank #2,992, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁnə].
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 17413, this pair ranks #1,927,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of steile vs Sterne
Shared letters: est. Private to "steile": il. Private to "Sterne": nr.
"steile" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "Sterne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "steile" and "Sterne" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "steile" vs "Sterne" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "steile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Sterne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,927,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "steile" and "Sterne" 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 #1,927,612 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.