Which to use
“Stufen” is a noun and “stürzen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,008
- “Stufen” frequency rank
- #6,362
- “stürzen” frequency rank
- 12370
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Stufen | stürzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stufe | eine hilflose, ungewollte Bewegung nach unten ausführen |
Where the eye mixes Stufen and stürzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Stufen runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against stürzen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Stufen with stürzen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stufen is [ˈʃtuːfn̩] while stürzen is [ˈʃtʏʁt͡sn̩]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12370, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Stufen is recorded at frequency rank #6,008, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtuːfn̩]. stürzen is at rank #6,362, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʏʁt͡sn̩].
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 12370, this pair ranks #1,964,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Stufen vs stürzen
Shared letters: enst. Private to "Stufen": fu. Private to "stürzen": rzü.
"Stufen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "stürzen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Stufen ← sstufen · stfuen · sttufen · stuefn · stufenn · stuffen · stufne · sutfen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Stufen" for "stürzen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Stufen" vs "stürzen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Stufen" and "stürzen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Stufen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stürzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,964,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Stufen" and "stürzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stilen vs Stufen". 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 #1,964,568 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.