Sturm vs Stürze, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,558
“Sturm” frequency rank: #27,960
“Stürze” frequency rank: 30518
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Sturm	Stürze
Definition	sehr starker Wind	Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Sturz

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Sturm and Stürze apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

Sturm

6 ch

Stürze

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Sturm ([ʃtʊʁm]) and Stürze ([ˈʃtʏʁt͡sə]) 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 30518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sturm is recorded at frequency rank #2,558, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtʊʁm]. Stürze is at rank #27,960, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʏʁt͡sə].

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 30518, this pair ranks #1,746,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Sturm vs Stürze

Shared letters: rst. Private to "Sturm": mu. Private to "Stürze": ezü.

"Sturm" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "Stürze" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

Sturm ← ssturm · strum · stturm · stumr · sturmm · sturrm · sutrm · tsurm

Frequency comparison

Sturm#2,558

Stürze#27,960

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Sturm" and "Stürze" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([ʃtʊʁm] versus [ˈʃtʏʁt͡sə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "Sturm" or "Stürze"?

"Sturm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,558 in our German list, against #27,960 for "Stürze". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Sturm vs Stürze

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Sturm” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable