StühlevsSühneWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,574
“Stühle” frequency rank
#41,488
“Sühne” frequency rank
52062
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stühle Sühne
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Stuhl eine Wiedergutmachung, eine Genugtuung, eine Leistung für ein begangenes Unrecht oder ein Verschulden

Where the eye mixes Stühle and Sühne

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Stühle
5 ch
Sühne

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Stühle ([ˈʃtyːlə]) and Sühne ([ˈzyːnə]) 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 52062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stühle is recorded at frequency rank #10,574, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtyːlə]. Sühne is at rank #41,488, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzyːnə].

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 52062, this pair ranks #1,111,403 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Stühle vs Sühne

Shared letters: ehsü. Private to "Stühle": lt. Private to "Sühne": n.

"Stühle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Sühne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Stühle" and "Sühne" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtyːlə] versus [ˈzyːnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Stühle" or "Sühne"?
"Stühle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,574 in our German list, against #41,488 for "Sühne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Stühle" and "Sühne". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stühle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sühne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,111,403 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stühle" and "Sühne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sohns vs Sühne". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list