Which to use
“stemmen” is a verb and “stumme” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,417
- “stemmen” frequency rank
- #30,310
- “stumme” frequency rank
- 50727
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stemmen | stumme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas Schweres in die Höhe heben | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stumm |
Where the eye mixes stemmen and stumme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. stemmen runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against stumme's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses stemmen with stumme
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stemmen is [ˈʃtɛmən] while stumme is [ˈʃtʊmə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stemmen is recorded at frequency rank #20,417, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛmən]. stumme is at rank #30,310, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtʊmə].
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 50727, this pair ranks #1,162,786 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stemmen vs stumme
Shared letters: emst. Private to "stemmen": n. Private to "stumme": u.
"stemmen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stumme" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stemmen" for "stumme" ever safe?
Which is more common, "stemmen" or "stumme"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "stemmen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stumme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,162,786 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stemmen" and "stumme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stemmt vs stumme". 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 #1,162,786 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.