ExplosionvsExplosionenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,422
“Explosion” frequency rank
#20,241
“Explosionen” frequency rank
26663
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Explosion Explosionen
Definition plötzliche, mit lautem Knall verbundene Volumenausdehnung auf Grund von chemischen oder kernphysikalischen Reaktionen bei gleichzeitigem Temperatur- und Druckanstieg, die zur Beschädigung oder Zerstörung der Umgebung führt Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Explosion

Where the eye mixes Explosion and Explosionen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
Explosion
11 ch
Explosionen

Look-alike desk: Explosion vs Explosionen

A purely visual mix-up. Explosion ([ɛksploˈzi̯oːn]) and Explosionen ([ɛksploˈzi̯oːnən]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Explosion” sits inside “Explosionen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26663, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Explosion is recorded at frequency rank #6,422, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɛksploˈzi̯oːn]. Explosionen is at rank #20,241, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɛksploˈzi̯oːnən].

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 26663, this pair ranks #1,814,497 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Explosion vs Explosionen

Shared letters: eilnopsx. Private to "Explosion": -. Private to "Explosionen": -.

"Explosion" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVVC  ·  "Explosionen" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Explosionepxlosion · exlposion · expllosion · exploison · explosino · explosionn · explosoin · explossion
  • Explosionenepxlosionen · exlposionen · expllosionen · exploisonen · explosinoen · explosioenn · explosionenn · explosionne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Explosion" for "Explosionen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛksploˈzi̯oːn] versus [ɛksploˈzi̯oːnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Explosion" or "Explosionen"?
"Explosion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,422 in our German list, against #20,241 for "Explosionen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Explosion" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Explosionen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,814,497 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Explosion" and "Explosionen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Explosion vs Explosiv". 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 #1,814,497 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