StrahlvsstrahltWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Strahl is a noun, strahlt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#16,294
“Strahl” frequency rank
#12,797
“strahlt” frequency rank
29091
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Strahl strahlt
Definition einseitig infinite Linie, die an einem festen Punkt beginnt 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs strahlen

Where the eye mixes Strahl and strahlt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Strahl runs 6 letters (CCCVCC) against strahlt's 7 (CCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Strahl
7 ch
strahlt

Look-alike desk: Strahl vs strahlt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Strahl is [ʃtʁaːl] while strahlt is [ʃtʁaːlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Strahl” sits inside “strahlt”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29091, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Strahl is recorded at frequency rank #16,294, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtʁaːl]. strahlt is at rank #12,797, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtʁaːlt].

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 29091, this pair ranks #1,773,195 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Strahl vs strahlt

Shared letters: ahlrst. Private to "Strahl": -. Private to "strahlt": -.

"Strahl" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "strahlt" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Strahl ← srtahl · sstrahl · starhl · strahhl · strahll · stralh · strhal · strrahl
  • strahlt ← srtahlt · sstrahlt · starhlt · strahhlt · strahllt · strahltt · strahtl · stralht

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Strahl" and "strahlt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Strahl" is a noun and "strahlt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Strahl" or "strahlt" show up more?
"strahlt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,797 in our German list, against #16,294 for "Strahl". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Strahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "strahlt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,773,195 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Strahl" and "strahlt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Strahl vs Strass". 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 #1,773,195 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