stuvssturWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: stu is a unknown, stur is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#47,032
“stu” frequency rank
#19,408
“stur” frequency rank
66440
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stu stur
Definition Dativ Singular des Numerales sto durch Argumente kaum oder gar nicht beeinflussbar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set stu and stur apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
stu
4 ch
stur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stu is [stʊ] while stur is [ʃtuːɐ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “stu” sits inside “stur”, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66440, 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]. stur is at rank #19,408, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃtuːɐ̯].

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 66440, this pair ranks #573,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stu vs stur

Shared letters: stu. Private to "stu": -. Private to "stur": r.

"stu" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "stur" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stursstur · stru · sttur · sturr · sutr · tsur

Frequency comparison

stu#47,032
stur#19,408

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stu" and "stur" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stu" is an unknown and "stur" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "stu" or "stur"?
"stur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,408 in our German list, against #47,032 for "stu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering stu vs stur

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an unknown, it's “stu”; for an adjective, it's “stur”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “stu” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list