Which to use
“stellen” and “stellte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #370
- “stellen” frequency rank
- #1,169
- “stellte” frequency rank
- 1539
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stellen | stellte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | senkrecht, mit den Füßen den Boden, einen bestimmten Platz oder Gegenstand berührend, in eine bestimmte oder übliche Position bringen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stellen |
Where the eye mixes stellen and stellte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. stellen (CCVCCVC) and stellte (CCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between stellen and stellte
A purely visual mix-up. stellen ([ˈʃtɛlən]) and stellte ([ˈʃtɛltə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stellen is recorded at frequency rank #370, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛlən]. 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 1539, this pair ranks #2,004,162 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stellen vs stellte
Shared letters: elst. Private to "stellen": n. Private to "stellte": -.
"stellen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stellte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stellen" and "stellte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "stellen" vs "stellte" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "stellen" and "stellte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "stellen" 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 #2,004,162 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stellen" and "stellte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stellen 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 #2,004,162 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.