stimmtvsstummConfusable pair

Quick tell: stimmt is a verb, stumm is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stimmt” is a verb and “stumm” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#607
“stimmt” frequency rank
#12,598
“stumm” frequency rank
13205
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stimmt stumm
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stimmen keine Laute von sich geben könnend

Where the eye mixes stimmt and stumm

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
stimmt
5 ch
stumm

Why the eye confuses stimmt with stumm

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stimmt is [ʃtɪmt] while stumm is [ʃtʊm]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stimmt is recorded at frequency rank #607, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪmt]. stumm is at rank #12,598, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃtʊm].

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 13205, this pair ranks #1,959,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stimmt vs stumm

Shared letters: mst. Private to "stimmt": i. Private to "stumm": u.

"stimmt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "stumm" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stimmtsitmmt · sstimmt · stimmtt · stimt · stimtm · stmimt · sttimmt · tsimmt
  • stummsstumm · stmum · sttumm · stum · sutmm · tsumm

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "stimmt" for "stumm" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stimmt" is a verb and "stumm" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "stimmt" vs "stumm" - which ranks higher?
"stimmt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #607 in our German list, against #12,598 for "stumm". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stimmt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stumm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,959,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stimmt" and "stumm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stemmt vs stumm". 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 #1,959,436 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