Which to use
“Stift” is a noun and “stopft” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,108
- “Stift” frequency rank
- #41,480
- “stopft” frequency rank
- 47588
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Stift | stopft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | künstlich hergestellter länglicher, meist zylindrischer Körper aus Metall oder Holz, oft mit einer Spitze, der vielfachen Verwendungsmöglichkeiten dient | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stopfen |
Where the eye mixes Stift and stopft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Stift vs stopft
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stift is [ʃtɪft] while stopft is [ʃtɔp͡ft]. 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 47588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Stift is recorded at frequency rank #6,108, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɪft]. stopft is at rank #41,480, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtɔp͡ft].
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 47588, this pair ranks #1,279,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Stift vs stopft
Shared letters: fst. Private to "Stift": i. Private to "stopft": op.
"Stift" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "stopft" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Stift" and "stopft" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Stift" or "stopft" show up more?
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 "Stift" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stopft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,279,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Stift" and "stopft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stöhnt vs stopft". 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 #1,279,073 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.