Which to use
“Stufe” is a noun and “stumme” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,997
- “Stufe” frequency rank
- #30,310
- “stumme” frequency rank
- 33307
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Stufe | stumme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | meist einzelner Teil einer Treppe, der zum Höher- oder Tiefersteigen dient, Trittfläche | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stumm |
Where the eye mixes Stufe and stumme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Stufe and stumme
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stufe is [ˈʃtuːfə] while stumme is [ˈʃtʊmə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33307, 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]. stumme is at rank #30,310, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtʊmə].
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 33307, this pair ranks #1,688,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Stufe vs stumme
Shared letters: estu. Private to "Stufe": f. Private to "stumme": m.
"Stufe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "stumme" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Stufe" and "stumme" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Stufe" or "stumme"?
Useful next steps
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 "stumme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,688,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Stufe" and "stumme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stemmt vs stumme". 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 #1,688,802 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.