Which to use
“Stufe” is a noun and “stuft” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,997
- “Stufe” frequency rank
- #37,231
- “stuft” frequency rank
- 40228
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Stufe | stuft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | meist einzelner Teil einer Treppe, der zum Höher- oder Tiefersteigen dient, Trittfläche | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs stufen |
Where the eye mixes Stufe and stuft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Stufe (CCVCV) and stuft (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between Stufe and stuft
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stufe is [ˈʃtuːfə] while stuft is [ʃtuːft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “Stufe” becomes t in “stuft”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Stufe is recorded at frequency rank #2,997, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtuːfə]. 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 40228, this pair ranks #1,514,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Stufe vs stuft
Shared letters: fstu. Private to "Stufe": e. Private to "stuft": -.
"Stufe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "stuft" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Stufe" and "stuft" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Stufe" or "stuft"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Stufe" 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 #1,514,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Stufe" and "stuft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stuft vs surft". 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 #1,514,503 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.