SteinenvssteinigenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Steinen is a name, steinigen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Steinen” is a name and “steinigen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,991
“Steinen” frequency rank
#31,805
“steinigen” frequency rank
39796
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Steinen steinigen
Definition eine Gemeinde in Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland jemanden töten, indem man ihn mit Steinen bewirft

Where the eye mixes Steinen and steinigen

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

7 ch
Steinen
9 ch
steinigen

Visual trap between Steinen and steinigen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Steinen is [ˈʃtaɪ̯nən] while steinigen is [ˈʃtaɪ̯nɪɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39796, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Steinen is recorded at frequency rank #7,991, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯nən]. steinigen is at rank #31,805, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtaɪ̯nɪɡn̩].

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 39796, this pair ranks #1,526,644 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Steinen vs steinigen

Shared letters: einst. Private to "Steinen": -. Private to "steinigen": g.

"Steinen" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "steinigen" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Steinensetinen · ssteinen · steienn · steinenn · steinnen · stenien · stienen · stteinen
  • steinigensetinigen · ssteinigen · steiingen · steingien · steiniegn · steinigenn · steiniggen · steinigne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Steinen" and "steinigen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Steinen" is a name and "steinigen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Steinen" vs "steinigen" - which ranks higher?
"Steinen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,991 in our German list, against #31,805 for "steinigen". 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 "Steinen" and "steinigen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Steinen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "steinigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,526,644 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Steinen" and "steinigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Steinchen vs steinigen". 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 #1,526,644 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