StrahlvsstrahlteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#16,294
“Strahl” frequency rank
#22,154
“strahlte” frequency rank
38448
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Strahl strahlte
Definition einseitig infinite Linie, die an einem festen Punkt beginnt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs strahlen

Where the eye mixes Strahl and strahlte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Strahl runs 6 letters (CCCVCC) against strahlte's 8 (CCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Strahl
8 ch
strahlte

Look-alike desk: Strahl vs strahlte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Strahl is [ʃtʁaːl] while strahlte is [ˈʃtʁaːltə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Strahl” sits inside “strahlte”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38448, 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]. strahlte is at rank #22,154, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaːltə].

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 38448, this pair ranks #1,563,696 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Strahl vs strahlte

Shared letters: ahlrst. Private to "Strahl": -. Private to "strahlte": e.

"Strahl" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "strahlte" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Strahl ← srtahl · sstrahl · starhl · strahhl · strahll · stralh · strhal · strrahl
  • strahlte ← srtahlte · sstrahlte · starhlte · strahhlte · strahlet · strahllte · strahltte · strahtle

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Strahl" and "strahlte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Strahl" is a noun and "strahlte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Strahl" or "strahlte" show up more?
"Strahl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,294 in our German list, against #22,154 for "strahlte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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 "strahlte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,563,696 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Strahl" and "strahlte" 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 #1,563,696 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