stellenvsStollenConfusable pair

Quick tell: stellen is a verb, Stollen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stellen” is a verb and “Stollen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#370
“stellen” frequency rank
#17,422
“Stollen” frequency rank
17792
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stellen Stollen
Definition senkrecht, mit den Füßen den Boden, einen bestimmten Platz oder Gegenstand berührend, in eine bestimmte oder übliche Position bringen unterirdischer, waagerechter Gang

Where the eye mixes stellen and Stollen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
stellen
7 ch
Stollen

Why the eye confuses stellen with Stollen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stellen is [ˈʃtɛlən] while Stollen is [ˈʃtɔlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “stellen” becomes o in “Stollen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stellen is recorded at frequency rank #370, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛlən]. Stollen is at rank #17,422, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɔlən].

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 17792, this pair ranks #1,924,223 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stellen vs Stollen

Shared letters: elnst. Private to "stellen": -. Private to "Stollen": o.

"stellen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Stollen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stellensetllen · sstellen · steleln · stellenn · stellne · stlelen · sttellen · tsellen
  • Stollensotllen · sstollen · stlolen · stoleln · stolen · stollenn · stollne · sttollen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stellen" and "Stollen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stellen" is a verb and "Stollen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "stellen" or "Stollen"?
"stellen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #370 in our German list, against #17,422 for "Stollen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stellen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stollen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,924,223 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stellen" and "Stollen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs Stollen". 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 #1,924,223 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