StürmevsstürzenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Stürme is a noun, stürzen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Stürme” is a noun and “stürzen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,444
“Stürme” frequency rank
#6,362
“stürzen” frequency rank
27806
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stürme stürzen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Sturm eine hilflose, ungewollte Bewegung nach unten ausführen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Stürme and stürzen apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Stürme
7 ch
stürzen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Stürme is [ˈʃtʏʁmə] 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 27806, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stürme is recorded at frequency rank #21,444, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʏʁmə]. 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 27806, this pair ranks #1,795,541 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stürme vs stürzen

Shared letters: erstü. Private to "Stürme": m. Private to "stürzen": nz.

"Stürme" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "stürzen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

Stürme#21,444
stürzen#6,362

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Stürme" and "stürzen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Stürme" is a noun and "stürzen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Stürme" or "stürzen"?
"stürzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,362 in our German list, against #21,444 for "Stürme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Stürme vs stürzen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Stürme”; for a verb, it's “stürzen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Stürme” 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