streichelnvsstreicheltWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#15,755
“streicheln” frequency rank
#38,435
“streichelt” frequency rank
54190
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature streicheln streichelt
Definition etwas/jemanden streicheln; (meist mit der flachen Hand bzw. mit den Fingern) sanft über das Äußere eines Tieres, Menschen oder selten auch Gegenstandes fahren 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs streicheln

Where the eye mixes streicheln and streichelt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. streicheln and streichelt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
streicheln
10 ch
streichelt

Visual trap between streicheln and streichelt

A purely visual mix-up. streicheln ([ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çl̩n]) and streichelt ([ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çl̩t]) 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 - n in “streicheln” becomes t in “streichelt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54190, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

streicheln is recorded at frequency rank #15,755, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çl̩n]. streichelt is at rank #38,435, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çl̩t].

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 54190, this pair ranks #1,028,624 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of streicheln vs streichelt

Shared letters: cehilrst. Private to "streicheln": n. Private to "streichelt": -.

"streicheln" · 10 letters · shape CCCVVCCVCC  ·  "streichelt" · 10 letters · shape CCCVVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • streicheln ← srteicheln · sstreicheln · stericheln · streciheln · streiccheln · streicehln · streichelln · streichelnn
  • streichelt ← srteichelt · sstreichelt · sterichelt · strecihelt · streicchelt · streicehlt · streichellt · streicheltt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "streicheln" and "streichelt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çl̩n] versus [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯çl̩t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "streicheln" or "streichelt" show up more?
"streicheln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,755 in our German list, against #38,435 for "streichelt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "streicheln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "streichelt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,028,624 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "streicheln" and "streichelt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "streiche vs streichelt". 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 #1,028,624 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