stummenvsstützenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: stummen is a adjective, stützen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stummen” is an adjective and “stützen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,951
“stummen” frequency rank
#8,789
“stützen” frequency rank
53740
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stummen stützen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs stumm jemanden, etwas (ab)sichern, zusätzlichen Halt geben

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set stummen and stützen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
stummen
7 ch
stützen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stummen is [ˈʃtʊmən] while stützen is [ˈʃtʏt͡sn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stummen is recorded at frequency rank #44,951, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈʃtʊmən]. stützen is at rank #8,789, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʏt͡sn̩].

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 53740, this pair ranks #1,046,147 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stummen vs stützen

Shared letters: enst. Private to "stummen": mu. Private to "stützen": .

"stummen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "stützen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stummensstummen · stmumen · sttummen · stumemn · stumen · stummenn · stummne · sutmmen

Frequency comparison

stummen#44,951
stützen#8,789

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stummen" and "stützen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stummen" is an adjective and "stützen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "stummen" or "stützen"?
"stützen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,789 in our German list, against #44,951 for "stummen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering stummen vs stützen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “stummen”; for a verb, it's “stützen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “stummen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list