SteinchenvsStrichenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#37,798
“Steinchen” frequency rank
#40,866
“Strichen” frequency rank
78664
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Steinchen Strichen
Definition ein kleiner Stein Dativ Plural des Substantivs Strich

Where the eye mixes Steinchen and Strichen

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

9 ch
Steinchen
8 ch
Strichen

Look-alike desk: Steinchen vs Strichen

A purely visual mix-up. Steinchen ([ˈʃtaɪ̯nçən]) and Strichen ([ˈʃtʁɪçn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78664, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Steinchen is recorded at frequency rank #37,798, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯nçən]. Strichen is at rank #40,866, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɪçn̩].

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 78664, this pair ranks #233,252 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Steinchen vs Strichen

Shared letters: cehinst. Private to "Steinchen": -. Private to "Strichen": r.

"Steinchen" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCCCVC  ·  "Strichen" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Steinchensetinchen · ssteinchen · steicnhen · steincchen · steincehn · steinchenn · steinchhen · steinchne
  • Strichensrtichen · sstrichen · stirchen · strcihen · stricchen · stricehn · strichenn · strichhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Steinchen" and "Strichen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtaɪ̯nçən] versus [ˈʃtʁɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Steinchen" or "Strichen" show up more?
"Steinchen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,798 in our German list, against #40,866 for "Strichen". 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 "Steinchen" and "Strichen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Steinchen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Strichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #233,252 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Steinchen" and "Strichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Strichen vs strippen". 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 #233,252 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