Which to use
“stu” is an unknown and “stumm” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,032
- “stu” frequency rank
- #12,598
- “stumm” frequency rank
- 59630
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stu | stumm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular des Numerales sto | keine Laute von sich geben könnend |
Where the eye mixes stu and stumm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: stu vs stumm
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stu is [stʊ] while stumm is [ʃtʊm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “stu” sits inside “stumm”, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59630, 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]. stumm is at rank #12,598, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃtʊm].
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 59630, this pair ranks #817,273 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stu vs stumm
Shared letters: stu. Private to "stu": -. Private to "stumm": m.
"stu" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "stumm" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- stumm ← sstumm · stmum · sttumm · stum · sutmm · tsumm
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stu" for "stumm" ever safe?
Frequency check: "stu" vs "stumm" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "stu" and "stumm" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "stu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stumm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #817,273 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stu" and "stumm" 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 #817,273 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.