stöhnenvsstörenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#20,423
“stöhnen” frequency rank
#4,390
“stören” frequency rank
24813
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stöhnen stören
Definition aufgrund von Anstrengung, Erregung oder Schmerz unartikulierte Laute hervorstoßen jemanden bei etwas belästigen, von etwas ablenken, einen Vorgang hemmen, ein Vorhaben hemmen, ärgerlicherweise aufhalten

Where the eye mixes stöhnen and stören

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
stöhnen
6 ch
stören

Look-alike desk: stöhnen vs stören

A purely visual mix-up. stöhnen ([ˈʃtøːnən]) and stören ([ˈʃtøːʁən]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24813, 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]. stören is at rank #4,390, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtøːʁən].

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 24813, this pair ranks #1,842,355 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stöhnen vs stören

Shared letters: enstö. Private to "stöhnen": h. Private to "stören": r.

"stöhnen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "stören" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "stöhnen" for "stören" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtøːnən] versus [ˈʃtøːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "stöhnen" or "stören"?
"stören" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,390 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.

What to do next

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 "stören" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,842,355 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stöhnen" and "stören" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stöhnen vs Strähnen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,842,355 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