Which to use
“Stern” is a noun and “stören” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,617
- “Stern” frequency rank
- #4,390
- “stören” frequency rank
- 7007
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Stern | stören |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | massereiche, selbst leuchtende Gaskugel, Himmelskörper | jemanden bei etwas belästigen, von etwas ablenken, einen Vorgang hemmen, ein Vorhaben hemmen, ärgerlicherweise aufhalten |
Where the eye mixes Stern and stören
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Stern vs stören
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stern is [ʃtɛʁn] while stören is [ˈʃtøːʁən]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Stern is recorded at frequency rank #2,617, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɛʁn]. stören is at rank #4,390, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtøːʁən].
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 7007, this pair ranks #1,989,714 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Stern vs stören
Shared letters: enrst. Private to "Stern": -. Private to "stören": ö.
"Stern" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "stören" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Stern ← setrn · sstern · stenr · sternn · sterrn · stren · sttern · tsern
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Stern" and "stören" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Stern" or "stören"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Stern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stören" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,989,714 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Stern" and "stören" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stören vs storia". 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 #1,989,714 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.