Which to use
“Stelle” is a noun and “stellte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #525
- “Stelle” frequency rank
- #1,169
- “stellte” frequency rank
- 1694
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Stelle | stellte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | berufliche Anstellung; Arbeitsplatz | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stellen |
Where the eye mixes Stelle and stellte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Stelle runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against stellte's 7 (CCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Stelle and stellte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stelle is [ˈʃtɛlə] while stellte is [ˈʃtɛltə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1694, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Stelle is recorded at frequency rank #525, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛlə]. stellte is at rank #1,169, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛltə].
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 1694, this pair ranks #2,003,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Stelle vs stellte
Shared letters: elst. Private to "Stelle": -. Private to "stellte": -.
"Stelle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "stellte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Stelle" and "stellte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Stelle" or "stellte" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Stelle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stellte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,003,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Stelle" and "stellte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stelen vs Stelle". 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 #2,003,889 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.