stuvsStuteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#47,032
“stu” frequency rank
#17,736
“Stute” frequency rank
64768
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stu Stute
Definition Dativ Singular des Numerales sto weibliches Tier der Familien Pferde (Equidae) und Kamele (Camelidae)

Where the eye mixes stu and Stute

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

3 ch
stu
5 ch
Stute

Why the eye confuses stu with Stute

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stu is [stʊ] while Stute is [ˈʃtuːtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “stu” sits inside “Stute”, and the parts of speech differ too (unknown vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64768, 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]. Stute is at rank #17,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtuːtə].

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 64768, this pair ranks #630,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stu vs Stute

Shared letters: stu. Private to "stu": -. Private to "Stute": e.

"stu" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "Stute" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stute ← sstute · sttue · sttute · stuet · stutte · sutte · tsute

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "stu" for "Stute" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stu" is an unknown and "Stute" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "stu" or "Stute" show up more?
"Stute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,736 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.

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 "Stute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #630,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stu" and "Stute" 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 #630,010 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