StellungvsSterlingWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,742
“Stellung” frequency rank
#18,078
“Sterling” frequency rank
20820
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stellung Sterling
Definition berufliche Position Pfund Sterling, Währungseinheit des Vereinigten Königreichs

Where the eye mixes Stellung and Sterling

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Stellung and Sterling follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
Stellung
8 ch
Sterling

Look-alike desk: Stellung vs Sterling

A purely visual mix-up. Stellung ([ˈʃtɛlʊŋ]) and Sterling ([ˈstɛʁlɪŋ]) 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 20820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stellung is recorded at frequency rank #2,742, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛlʊŋ]. Sterling is at rank #18,078, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈstɛʁlɪŋ].

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 20820, this pair ranks #1,893,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stellung vs Sterling

Shared letters: eglnst. Private to "Stellung": u. Private to "Sterling": ir.

"Stellung" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "Sterling" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stellung ← setllung · sstellung · stellnug · stellugn · stellungg · stellunng · stelulng · stelung
  • Sterling ← setrling · ssterling · stelring · sterilng · sterlign · sterlingg · sterlinng · sterlling

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Stellung" and "Sterling" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɛlʊŋ] versus [ˈstɛʁlɪŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Stellung" or "Sterling"?
"Stellung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,742 in our German list, against #18,078 for "Sterling". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Stellung" and "Sterling" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stellung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sterling" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,893,365 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stellung" and "Sterling" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sperling vs Sterling". 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 #1,893,365 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