sturvsSüdWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: stur is a adjective, Süd is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stur” is an adjective and “Süd” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,408
“stur” frequency rank
#3,080
“Süd” frequency rank
22488
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stur Süd
Definition durch Argumente kaum oder gar nicht beeinflussbar Kurzform für die Haupthimmelsrichtung Süden in der Navigation, Seefahrt

Where the eye mixes stur and Süd

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
stur
3 ch
Süd

Visual trap between stur and Süd

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stur is [ʃtuːɐ̯] while Süd is [zyːt]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stur is recorded at frequency rank #19,408, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃtuːɐ̯]. Süd is at rank #3,080, tagged as anoun, pronounced [zyːt].

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 22488, this pair ranks #1,873,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stur vs Süd

Shared letters: s. Private to "stur": rtu. Private to "Süd": .

"stur" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Süd" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stursstur · stru · sttur · sturr · sutr · tsur

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stur" and "Süd" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stur" is an adjective and "Süd" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "stur" or "Süd"?
"Süd" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,080 in our German list, against #19,408 for "stur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "stur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Süd" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,873,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stur" and "Süd" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shut vs stur". 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 #1,873,553 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list