IntentionvsIntentionenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,596
“Intention” frequency rank
#36,996
“Intentionen” frequency rank
51592
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Intention Intentionen
Definition die Absicht, etwas zu tun Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Intention

Where the eye mixes Intention and Intentionen

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

9 ch
Intention
11 ch
Intentionen

Look-alike desk: Intention vs Intentionen

A purely visual mix-up. Intention ([ɪntɛnˈt͡si̯oːn]) and Intentionen ([ɪntɛnˈt͡si̯oːnən]) 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) - “Intention” sits inside “Intentionen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Intention is recorded at frequency rank #14,596, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɪntɛnˈt͡si̯oːn]. Intentionen is at rank #36,996, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɪntɛnˈt͡si̯oːnən].

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 51592, this pair ranks #1,129,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Intention vs Intentionen

Shared letters: einot. Private to "Intention": -. Private to "Intentionen": -.

"Intention" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC  ·  "Intentionen" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Intentioninetntion · inntention · inteniton · intenntion · intentino · intentionn · intentoin · intenttion
  • Intentioneninetntionen · inntentionen · intenitonen · intenntionen · intentinoen · intentioenn · intentionenn · intentionne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Intention" for "Intentionen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɪntɛnˈt͡si̯oːn] versus [ɪntɛnˈt͡si̯oːnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Intention" or "Intentionen" show up more?
"Intention" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,596 in our German list, against #36,996 for "Intentionen". 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 "Intention" and "Intentionen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Intention" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Intentionen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,129,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Intention" and "Intentionen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Injektionen vs Intentionen". 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 #1,129,583 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