steilevsstreiteTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#14,421
“steile” frequency rank
#29,348
“streite” frequency rank
43769
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature steile streite
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs steil 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs streiten

Where the eye mixes steile and streite

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
steile
7 ch
streite

Look-alike desk: steile vs streite

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: steile is [ˈʃtaɪ̯lə] while streite is [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43769, 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]. streite is at rank #29,348, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯tə].

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 43769, this pair ranks #1,407,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of steile vs streite

Shared letters: eist. Private to "steile": l. Private to "streite": r.

"steile" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "streite" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • steilesetile · ssteile · steiel · steille · stelie · stiele · stteile · tseile
  • streitesrteite · sstreite · sterite · streiet · stretie · striete · strreite · sttreite

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "steile" and "streite" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "steile" is an adjective and "streite" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "steile" vs "streite" - which ranks higher?
"steile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,421 in our German list, against #29,348 for "streite". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "steile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "streite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,407,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "steile" and "streite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "streite vs Streiter". 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 #1,407,564 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