BahnhofvsBahnhöfenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,800
“Bahnhof” frequency rank
#15,828
“Bahnhöfen” frequency rank
17628
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bahnhof Bahnhöfen
Definition Ort, an dem Züge halten und Personen ein- und aussteigen sowie Güter verladen werden Dativ Plural des Substantivs Bahnhof

Where the eye mixes Bahnhof and Bahnhöfen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Bahnhof runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against Bahnhöfen's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Bahnhof
9 ch
Bahnhöfen

Look-alike desk: Bahnhof vs Bahnhöfen

A purely visual mix-up. Bahnhof ([ˈbaːnˌhoːf]) and Bahnhöfen ([ˈbaːnˌhøːfn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bahnhof is recorded at frequency rank #1,800, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaːnˌhoːf]. Bahnhöfen is at rank #15,828, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaːnˌhøːfn̩].

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 17628, this pair ranks #1,925,710 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bahnhof vs Bahnhöfen

Shared letters: abfhn. Private to "Bahnhof": o. Private to "Bahnhöfen": .

"Bahnhof" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Bahnhöfen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bahnhofabhnhof · bahhnhof · bahhnof · bahnhfo · bahnhhof · bahnhoff · bahnnhof · bahnohf

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Bahnhof" and "Bahnhöfen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbaːnˌhoːf] versus [ˈbaːnˌhøːfn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Bahnhof" vs "Bahnhöfen" - which ranks higher?
"Bahnhof" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,800 in our German list, against #15,828 for "Bahnhöfen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bahnhof" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bahnhöfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,925,710 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bahnhof" and "Bahnhöfen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bahnhöfen vs Bahnhofs". 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 #1,925,710 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