Which to use
“stu” is an unknown and “stuft” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,032
- “stu” frequency rank
- #37,231
- “stuft” frequency rank
- 84263
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stu | stuft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular des Numerales sto | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stufen |
Where the eye mixes stu and stuft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. stu runs 3 letters (CCV) against stuft's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: stu vs stuft
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stu is [stʊ] while stuft is [ʃtuːft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “stu” sits inside “stuft”, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84263, 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]. stuft is at rank #37,231, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃtuːft].
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 84263, this pair ranks #126,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of stu vs stuft
Shared letters: stu. Private to "stu": -. Private to "stuft": f.
"stu" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "stuft" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- stuft ← sstuft · stfut · sttuft · stufft · stuftt · stutf · sutft · tsuft
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stu" and "stuft" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "stu" vs "stuft" - which ranks higher?
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 "stu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stuft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #126,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stu" and "stuft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs stu". 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 #126,481 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.