BiografievsBiografienWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,251
“Biografie” frequency rank
#26,785
“Biografien” frequency rank
39036
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Biografie Biografien
Definition Lebensbeschreibung einer Person Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Biografie

Where the eye mixes Biografie and Biografien

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Biografie runs 9 letters (CVVCCVCVV) against Biografien's 10 (CVVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Biografie
10 ch
Biografien

Visual trap between Biografie and Biografien

A purely visual mix-up. Biografie ([bioɡʁaˈfiː]) and Biografien ([bioɡʁaˈfiːən]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Biografie” sits inside “Biografien”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39036, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Biografie is recorded at frequency rank #12,251, classified as anoun, pronounced [bioɡʁaˈfiː]. Biografien is at rank #26,785, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bioɡʁaˈfiːən].

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 39036, this pair ranks #1,547,847 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Biografie vs Biografien

Shared letters: abefgior. Private to "Biografie": -. Private to "Biografien": n.

"Biografie" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVV  ·  "Biografien" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Biografie ← bbiografie · bigorafie · biogarfie · bioggrafie · biografei · biograffie · biograife · biogrfaie
  • Biografien ← bbiografien · bigorafien · biogarfien · bioggrafien · biografein · biograffien · biografienn · biografine

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Biografie" and "Biografien" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bioɡʁaˈfiː] versus [bioɡʁaˈfiːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Biografie" or "Biografien"?
"Biografie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,251 in our German list, against #26,785 for "Biografien". 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 "Biografie" and "Biografien" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Biografie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Biografien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,547,847 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Biografie" and "Biografien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Biografien vs Biographien". 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 #1,547,847 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