Which to use
“Stufe” is a noun and “stumm” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,997
- “Stufe” frequency rank
- #12,598
- “stumm” frequency rank
- 15595
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Stufe | stumm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | meist einzelner Teil einer Treppe, der zum Höher- oder Tiefersteigen dient, Trittfläche | keine Laute von sich geben könnend |
Where the eye mixes Stufe and stumm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Stufe and stumm
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stufe is [ˈʃtuːfə] while stumm is [ʃtʊm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15595, 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]. 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 15595, this pair ranks #1,942,626 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Stufe vs stumm
Shared letters: stu. Private to "Stufe": ef. Private to "stumm": m.
"Stufe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "stumm" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Stufe" for "stumm" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Stufe" or "stumm" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Stufe" and "stumm" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Stufe" 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 #1,942,626 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Stufe" and "stumm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stemmt vs stumm". 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 #1,942,626 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.