stöhnenvsstoppenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#20,423
“stöhnen” frequency rank
#3,999
“stoppen” frequency rank
24422
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stöhnen stoppen
Definition aufgrund von Anstrengung, Erregung oder Schmerz unartikulierte Laute hervorstoßen zum Stehen bringen oder zum Stehen gebracht werden

Where the eye mixes stöhnen and stoppen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. stöhnen and stoppen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
stöhnen
7 ch
stoppen

Why the eye confuses stöhnen with stoppen

A purely visual mix-up. stöhnen ([ˈʃtøːnən]) and stoppen ([ˈʃtɔpn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24422, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stöhnen is recorded at frequency rank #20,423, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtøːnən]. stoppen is at rank #3,999, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɔpn̩].

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 24422, this pair ranks #1,847,882 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stöhnen vs stoppen

Shared letters: enst. Private to "stöhnen": hö. Private to "stoppen": op.

"stöhnen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "stoppen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stoppen ← sotppen · sstoppen · stopen · stopepn · stoppenn · stoppne · stpopen · sttoppen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "stöhnen" and "stoppen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtøːnən] versus [ˈʃtɔpn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "stöhnen" vs "stoppen" - which ranks higher?
"stoppen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,999 in our German list, against #20,423 for "stöhnen". 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 "stöhnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stoppen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,847,882 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stöhnen" and "stoppen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stöhnen vs Strähnen". 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 #1,847,882 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