Which to use
“stellen” is a verb and “stiller” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #370
- “stellen” frequency rank
- #14,942
- “stiller” frequency rank
- 15312
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stellen | stiller |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | senkrecht, mit den Füßen den Boden, einen bestimmten Platz oder Gegenstand berührend, in eine bestimmte oder übliche Position bringen | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs still |
Where the eye mixes stellen and stiller
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses stellen with stiller
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stellen is [ˈʃtɛlən] while stiller is [ˈʃtɪlɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stellen is recorded at frequency rank #370, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛlən]. stiller is at rank #14,942, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtɪlɐ].
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 15312, this pair ranks #1,944,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stellen vs stiller
Shared letters: elst. Private to "stellen": n. Private to "stiller": ir.
"stellen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stiller" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stellen" and "stiller" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "stellen" or "stiller" 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 "stellen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stiller" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,944,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stellen" and "stiller" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs stiller". 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 #1,944,846 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.