stelltvsstelltenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“stellt” and “stellten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#512
“stellt” frequency rank
#4,389
“stellten” frequency rank
4901
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stellt stellten
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stellen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stellen

Where the eye mixes stellt and stellten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. stellt runs 6 letters (CCVCCC) against stellten's 8 (CCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
stellt
8 ch
stellten

Why the eye confuses stellt with stellten

A purely visual mix-up. stellt ([ʃtɛlt]) and stellten ([ˈʃtɛltn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “stellt” sits inside “stellten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stellt is recorded at frequency rank #512, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtɛlt]. stellten is at rank #4,389, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛltn̩].

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 4901, this pair ranks #1,996,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stellt vs stellten

Shared letters: elst. Private to "stellt": -. Private to "stellten": n.

"stellt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "stellten" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stellt ← setllt · sstellt · stelltt · stelt · steltl · stlelt · sttellt · tsellt
  • stellten ← setllten · sstellten · stelletn · stelltenn · stelltne · stelltten · stelten · steltlen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "stellt" and "stellten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtɛlt] versus [ˈʃtɛltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "stellt" or "stellten" show up more?
"stellt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #512 in our German list, against #4,389 for "stellten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "stellt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stellten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,996,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stellt" and "stellten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stelen vs stellten". 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 #1,996,337 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