Which to use
“stolpern” is a verb and “stolzen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,140
- “stolpern” frequency rank
- #20,070
- “stolzen” frequency rank
- 44210
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stolpern | stolzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (beinahe) stürzen, (beinahe) hinfallen, straucheln | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stolz |
Where the eye mixes stolpern and stolzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. stolpern runs 8 letters (CCVCCVCC) against stolzen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses stolpern with stolzen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stolpern is [ˈʃtɔlpɐn] while stolzen is [ˈʃtɔlt͡sn̩]. 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 44210, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stolpern is recorded at frequency rank #24,140, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɔlpɐn]. stolzen is at rank #20,070, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtɔlt͡sn̩].
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 44210, this pair ranks #1,393,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stolpern vs stolzen
Shared letters: elnost. Private to "stolpern": pr. Private to "stolzen": z.
"stolpern" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC · "stolzen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stolpern" for "stolzen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "stolpern" or "stolzen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "stolpern" and "stolzen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "stolpern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stolzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,393,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stolpern" and "stolzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs stolzen". 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 #1,393,436 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.