Which to use
“Balkon” and “Ballen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,863
- “Balkon” frequency rank
- #32,432
- “Ballen” frequency rank
- 37295
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Balkon | Ballen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Teil eines Gebäudes, der als Plattform ins Freie hinausragt und von halbhohem Mauerwerk oder Ähnlichem umrandet ist | durch Muskelmasse oder verdickte Haut abgepolsterter Bereich an der Innenseite der Gliedmaßen |
Where the eye mixes Balkon and Ballen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Balkon and Ballen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Balkon with Ballen
A purely visual mix-up. Balkon ([balˈkɔ̃ː]) and Ballen ([ˈbalən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Balkon is recorded at frequency rank #4,863, classified as anoun, pronounced [balˈkɔ̃ː]. Ballen is at rank #32,432, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbalən].
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 37295, this pair ranks #1,593,894 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Balkon vs Ballen
Shared letters: abln. Private to "Balkon": ko. Private to "Ballen": e.
"Balkon" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Ballen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Balkon" for "Ballen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Balkon" vs "Ballen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Balkon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Ballen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,593,894 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Balkon" and "Ballen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ballen vs barley". 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 #1,593,894 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.