stuvsStückWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: stu is a unknown, Stück is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stu” is an unknown and “Stück” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,032
“stu” frequency rank
#711
“Stück” frequency rank
47743
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stu Stück
Definition Dativ Singular des Numerales sto Teil eines Ganzen

Where the eye mixes stu and Stück

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. stu runs 3 letters (CCV) against Stück's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
stu
5 ch
Stück

Why the eye confuses stu with Stück

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stu is [stʊ] while Stück is [ʃtʏk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stu is recorded at frequency rank #47,032, classified as anunknown, pronounced [stʊ]. Stück is at rank #711, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃtʏk].

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 47743, this pair ranks #1,273,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stu vs Stück

Shared letters: st. Private to "stu": u. Private to "Stück": ckü.

"stu" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "Stück" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stu" and "Stück" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stu" is an unknown and "Stück" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "stu" vs "Stück" - which ranks higher?
"Stück" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #711 in our German list, against #47,032 for "stu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Stück" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,273,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stu" and "Stück" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs stu". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,273,665 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