störtevsstürmteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,328
“störte” frequency rank
#27,959
“stürmte” frequency rank
51287
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature störte stürmte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stören 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs stürmen

Where the eye mixes störte and stürmte

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

6 ch
störte
7 ch
stürmte

Look-alike desk: störte vs stürmte

A purely visual mix-up. störte ([ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə]) and stürmte ([ˈʃtʏʁmtə]) 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 51287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

störte is recorded at frequency rank #23,328, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə]. stürmte is at rank #27,959, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʏʁmtə].

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 51287, this pair ranks #1,141,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of störte vs stürmte

Shared letters: erst. Private to "störte": ö. Private to "stürmte": .

"störte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "stürmte" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "störte" and "stürmte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtøːɐ̯tə] versus [ˈʃtʏʁmtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "störte" vs "stürmte" - which ranks higher?
"störte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,328 in our German list, against #27,959 for "stürmte". 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 "störte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stürmte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,141,244 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "störte" and "stürmte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stärkte vs stürmte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,141,244 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