StoffevsstörteWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#5,886
“Stoffe” frequency rank
#23,328
“störte” frequency rank
29214
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stoffe störte
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Stoff 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stören

Where the eye mixes Stoffe and störte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Stoffe
6 ch
störte

Why the eye confuses Stoffe with störte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stoffe is [ˈʃtɔfə] while störte is [ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29214, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stoffe is recorded at frequency rank #5,886, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɔfə]. störte is at rank #23,328, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə].

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 29214, this pair ranks #1,770,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stoffe vs störte

Shared letters: est. Private to "Stoffe": fo. Private to "störte": .

"Stoffe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "störte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stoffesotffe · sstoffe · stfofe · stofe · stofef · sttoffe · tsoffe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Stoffe" and "störte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Stoffe" is a noun and "störte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Stoffe" or "störte"?
"Stoffe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,886 in our German list, against #23,328 for "störte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stoffe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "störte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,770,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stoffe" and "störte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "storia vs störte". 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 #1,770,974 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