stichtvsstiehltConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,948
“sticht” frequency rank
#24,526
“stiehlt” frequency rank
38474
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sticht stiehlt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stechen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stehlen

Where the eye mixes sticht and stiehlt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sticht runs 6 letters (CCVCCC) against stiehlt's 7 (CCVVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
sticht
7 ch
stiehlt

Visual trap between sticht and stiehlt

A purely visual mix-up. sticht ([ʃtɪçt]) and stiehlt ([ʃtiːlt]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38474, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sticht is recorded at frequency rank #13,948, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪçt]. stiehlt is at rank #24,526, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtiːlt].

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 38474, this pair ranks #1,563,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sticht vs stiehlt

Shared letters: hist. Private to "sticht": c. Private to "stiehlt": el.

"sticht" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "stiehlt" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sticht ← sitcht · ssticht · stciht · sticcht · stichht · stichtt · sticth · stihct
  • stiehlt ← sitehlt · sstiehlt · steihlt · stiehhlt · stiehllt · stiehltt · stiehtl · stielht

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sticht" for "stiehlt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtɪçt] versus [ʃtiːlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sticht" or "stiehlt"?
"sticht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,948 in our German list, against #24,526 for "stiehlt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sticht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stiehlt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,563,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sticht" and "stiehlt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stehle vs stiehlt". 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 #1,563,026 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