stiftetvsStiftsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: stiftet is a verb, Stifts is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stiftet” is a verb and “Stifts” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,513
“stiftet” frequency rank
#44,253
“Stifts” frequency rank
87766
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stiftet Stifts
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stiften Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Stift

Where the eye mixes stiftet and Stifts

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

7 ch
stiftet
6 ch
Stifts

Why the eye confuses stiftet with Stifts

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stiftet is [ˈʃtɪftət] while Stifts is [ʃtɪft͡s]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87766, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stiftet is recorded at frequency rank #43,513, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɪftət]. Stifts is at rank #44,253, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtɪft͡s].

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 87766, this pair ranks #76,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of stiftet vs Stifts

Shared letters: fist. Private to "stiftet": e. Private to "Stifts": -.

"stiftet" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Stifts" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stiftet ← sitftet · sstiftet · stfitet · stifett · stifftet · stiftett · stifttet · stitfet
  • Stifts ← sitfts · sstifts · stfits · stiffts · stifst · stiftss · stiftts · stitfs

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "stiftet" and "Stifts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stiftet" is a verb and "Stifts" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "stiftet" or "Stifts" show up more?
"stiftet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,513 in our German list, against #44,253 for "Stifts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "stiftet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stifts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #76,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stiftet" and "Stifts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stattet vs stiftet". 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 #76,244 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