Störung vs strunz, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Störung” is a noun and “strunz” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,655
“Störung” frequency rank: #49,280
“strunz” frequency rank: 53935
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Störung	strunz
Definition	unerwünschte Beeinträchtigung	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs strunzen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Störung and strunz apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

Störung

6 ch

strunz

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Störung is [ˈʃtøːʁʊŋ] while strunz is [ʃtʁʊnt͡s]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53935, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Störung is recorded at frequency rank #4,655, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtøːʁʊŋ]. strunz is at rank #49,280, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtʁʊnt͡s].

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 53935, this pair ranks #1,038,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Störung vs strunz

Shared letters: nrstu. Private to "Störung": gö. Private to "strunz": z.

"Störung" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC · "strunz" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

strunz ← srtunz · sstrunz · strnuz · strrunz · strunnz · strunzz · struzn · sttrunz

Frequency comparison

Störung#4,655

strunz#49,280

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Störung" and "strunz" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Störung" is a noun and "strunz" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Störung" or "strunz"?

"Störung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,655 in our German list, against #49,280 for "strunz". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Störung vs strunz

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Störung”; for a verb, it's “strunz”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Störung” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable