Which to use
“stürzen” and “stützen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,362
- “stürzen” frequency rank
- #8,789
- “stützen” frequency rank
- 15151
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stürzen | stützen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine hilflose, ungewollte Bewegung nach unten ausführen | jemanden, etwas (ab)sichern, zusätzlichen Halt geben |
Where the eye mixes stürzen and stützen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. stürzen and stützen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between stürzen and stützen
A purely visual mix-up. stürzen ([ˈʃtʏʁt͡sn̩]) and stützen ([ˈʃtʏt͡sn̩]) 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 a single letter - r in “stürzen” becomes t in “stützen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stürzen is recorded at frequency rank #6,362, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʃtʏʁt͡sn̩]. 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 15151, this pair ranks #1,946,017 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stürzen vs stützen
Shared letters: enstzü. Private to "stürzen": r. Private to "stützen": -.
"stürzen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stützen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stürzen" and "stützen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "stürzen" vs "stützen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "stürzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stützen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,946,017 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stürzen" and "stützen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stuten vs stützen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,946,017 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.