StufevsStühleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Stufe” and “Stühle” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,997
“Stufe” frequency rank
#10,574
“Stühle” frequency rank
13571
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stufe Stühle
Definition meist einzelner Teil einer Treppe, der zum Höher- oder Tiefersteigen dient, Trittfläche Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stuhl

Where the eye mixes Stufe and Stühle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Stufe
6 ch
Stühle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Stufe ([ˈʃtuːfə]) and Stühle ([ˈʃtyːlə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13571, 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]. Stühle is at rank #10,574, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtyːlə].

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 13571, this pair ranks #1,957,130 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stufe vs Stühle

Shared letters: est. Private to "Stufe": fu. Private to "Stühle": hlü.

"Stufe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Stühle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stufesstufe · stfue · sttufe · stuef · stuffe · sutfe · tsufe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Stufe" and "Stühle" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtuːfə] versus [ˈʃtyːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Stufe" or "Stühle"?
"Stufe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,997 in our German list, against #10,574 for "Stühle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list