streitevsStreiterWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#29,348
“streite” frequency rank
#47,029
“Streiter” frequency rank
76377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature streite Streiter
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs streiten Person, die sich mit den ihr zur Verfügung stehenden Mitteln für etwas nachhaltig einsetzt

Where the eye mixes streite and Streiter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. streite runs 7 letters (CCCVVCV) against Streiter's 8 (CCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
streite
8 ch
Streiter

Why the eye confuses streite with Streiter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: streite is [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯tə] while Streiter is [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯tɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “streite” sits inside “Streiter”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

streite is recorded at frequency rank #29,348, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯tə]. Streiter is at rank #47,029, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯tɐ].

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 76377, this pair ranks #285,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of streite vs Streiter

Shared letters: eirst. Private to "streite": -. Private to "Streiter": -.

"streite" · 7 letters · shape CCCVVCV  ·  "Streiter" · 8 letters · shape CCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • streite ← srteite · sstreite · sterite · streiet · stretie · striete · strreite · sttreite
  • Streiter ← srteiter · sstreiter · steriter · streietr · streiterr · streitre · streitter · stretier

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "streite" for "Streiter" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "streite" is a verb and "Streiter" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "streite" or "Streiter" show up more?
"streite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,348 in our German list, against #47,029 for "Streiter". 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 "streite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Streiter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #285,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "streite" and "Streiter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steter vs Streiter". 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 #285,270 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