BalkonvsBallonWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,863
“Balkon” frequency rank
#16,364
“Ballon” frequency rank
21227
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Balkon Ballon
Definition Teil eines Gebäudes, der als Plattform ins Freie hinausragt und von halbhohem Mauerwerk oder Ähnlichem umrandet ist Gummihülle, die mit Luft oder Helium aufgeblasen werden kann

Where the eye mixes Balkon and Ballon

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Balkon and Ballon follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Balkon
6 ch
Ballon

Look-alike desk: Balkon vs Ballon

A purely visual mix-up. Balkon ([balˈkɔ̃ː]) and Ballon ([baˈlɔŋ]) 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 - k in “Balkon” becomes l in “Ballon”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21227, 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]. Ballon is at rank #16,364, tagged as anoun, pronounced [baˈlɔŋ].

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 21227, this pair ranks #1,888,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Balkon vs Ballon

Shared letters: ablno. Private to "Balkon": k. Private to "Ballon": -.

"Balkon" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Ballon" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Balkon ← ablkon · baklon · balkkon · balkno · balkonn · ballkon · balokn · bbalkon
  • Ballon ← abllon · ballno · ballonn · baloln · balon · bballon · blalon

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Balkon" and "Ballon" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([balˈkɔ̃ː] versus [baˈlɔŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Balkon" vs "Ballon" - which ranks higher?
"Balkon" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,863 in our German list, against #16,364 for "Ballon". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Ballon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,888,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Balkon" and "Ballon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ballet vs Ballon". 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 #1,888,778 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