Which to use
“sterbe” is a verb and “Sterne” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,988
- “sterbe” frequency rank
- #2,992
- “Sterne” frequency rank
- 12980
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sterbe | Sterne |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sterben | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Stern |
Where the eye mixes sterbe and Sterne
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sterbe and Sterne follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between sterbe and Sterne
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sterbe is [ˈʃtɛʁbə] while Sterne is [ˈʃtɛʁnə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “sterbe” becomes n in “Sterne”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sterbe is recorded at frequency rank #9,988, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁbə]. Sterne is at rank #2,992, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁnə].
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 12980, this pair ranks #1,960,854 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sterbe vs Sterne
Shared letters: erst. Private to "sterbe": b. Private to "Sterne": n.
"sterbe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "Sterne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sterbe" and "Sterne" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "sterbe" or "Sterne"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "sterbe" and "Sterne" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sterbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Sterne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,960,854 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sterbe" and "Sterne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steife vs sterbe". 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 #1,960,854 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.