Which to use
“stick” is a verb and “sticks” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,572
- “stick” frequency rank
- #28,402
- “sticks” frequency rank
- 38974
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stick | sticks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Präsens Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs sticken | Plural des Substantivs stick |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set stick and sticks apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
stick and sticks form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “stick” sits inside “sticks” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stick is recorded at frequency rank #10,572, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪk]. sticks is at rank #28,402, tagged as anoun, pronounced [stɪks].
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 38974, this pair ranks #1,549,601 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stick" and "sticks" be used interchangeably?
Remembering stick vs sticks
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “stick”; for a noun, it's “sticks”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “stick” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable