stirbvsstirbtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,072
“stirb” frequency rank
#3,078
“stirbt” frequency rank
30150
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stirb stirbt
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sterben 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs sterben

Where the eye mixes stirb and stirbt

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

5 ch
stirb
6 ch
stirbt

Why the eye confuses stirb with stirbt

A purely visual mix-up. stirb ([ʃtɪʁp]) and stirbt ([ʃtɪʁpt]) 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 extra letter(s) - “stirb” sits inside “stirbt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stirb is recorded at frequency rank #27,072, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪʁp]. stirbt is at rank #3,078, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtɪʁpt].

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 30150, this pair ranks #1,753,445 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stirb vs stirbt

Shared letters: birst. Private to "stirb": -. Private to "stirbt": -.

"stirb" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "stirbt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stirb ← sitrb · sstirb · stibr · stirbb · stirrb · strib · sttirb · tsirb
  • stirbt ← sitrbt · sstirbt · stibrt · stirbbt · stirbtt · stirrbt · stirtb · stribt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "stirb" and "stirbt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtɪʁp] versus [ʃtɪʁpt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "stirb" or "stirbt" show up more?
"stirbt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,078 in our German list, against #27,072 for "stirb". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "stirb" and "stirbt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stirb" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stirbt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,753,445 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stirb" and "stirbt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sire vs stirb". 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 #1,753,445 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