stopfenvsstoppenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,840
“stopfen” frequency rank
#3,999
“stoppen” frequency rank
20839
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stopfen stoppen
Definition etwas Verformbares irgendwo hineindrücken zum Stehen bringen oder zum Stehen gebracht werden

Where the eye mixes stopfen and stoppen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. stopfen 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
stopfen
7 ch
stoppen

Why the eye confuses stopfen with stoppen

A purely visual mix-up. stopfen ([ˈʃtɔp͡fn̩]) 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 differ by a single letter - f in “stopfen” becomes p in “stoppen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20839, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stopfen is recorded at frequency rank #16,840, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtɔp͡fn̩]. 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 20839, this pair ranks #1,893,145 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stopfen vs stoppen

Shared letters: enopst. Private to "stopfen": f. Private to "stoppen": -.

"stopfen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "stoppen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stopfen ← sotpfen · sstopfen · stofpen · stopefn · stopfenn · stopffen · stopfne · stoppfen
  • stoppen ← sotppen · sstoppen · stopen · stopepn · stoppenn · stoppne · stpopen · sttoppen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stopfen" and "stoppen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtɔp͡fn̩] versus [ˈʃtɔpn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "stopfen" or "stoppen"?
"stoppen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,999 in our German list, against #16,840 for "stopfen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "stopfen" 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 #1,893,145 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stopfen" and "stoppen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stopfen vs Stöpsel". 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 #1,893,145 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