BalladenvsBallenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,254
“Balladen” frequency rank
#32,432
“Ballen” frequency rank
56686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Balladen Ballen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ballade durch Muskelmasse oder verdickte Haut abgepolsterter Bereich an der Innenseite der Gliedmaßen

Where the eye mixes Balladen and Ballen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Balladen runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against Ballen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Balladen
6 ch
Ballen

Look-alike desk: Balladen vs Ballen

A purely visual mix-up. Balladen ([baˈlaːdn̩]) 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 differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Balladen is recorded at frequency rank #24,254, classified as anoun, pronounced [baˈlaːdn̩]. 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 56686, this pair ranks #930,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Balladen vs Ballen

Shared letters: abeln. Private to "Balladen": d. Private to "Ballen": -.

"Balladen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "Ballen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Balladenablladen · baladen · balalden · balladden · balladenn · balladne · ballaedn · balldaen
  • Ballenabllen · baleln · balen · ballenn · ballne · bballen · blalen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Balladen" for "Ballen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([baˈlaːdn̩] versus [ˈbalən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Balladen" or "Ballen"?
"Balladen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,254 in our German list, against #32,432 for "Ballen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Balladen" and "Ballen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Balladen" 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 #930,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Balladen" 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 #930,551 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