Which to use
“Luftballon” and “Luftballons” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,073
- “Luftballon” frequency rank
- #19,991
- “Luftballons” frequency rank
- 60064
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Luftballon | Luftballons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hülle aus Gummi, die mit Luft oder Helium aufgeblasen werden kann, oft in Form eines bunten, meist runden Kinderspielzeugs an einem Faden oder Draht | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Luftballon |
Where the eye mixes Luftballon and Luftballons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. Luftballon runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCCVC) against Luftballons's 11 (CVCCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Luftballon vs Luftballons
A purely visual mix-up. Luftballon ([ˈlʊftbaˌlɔŋ]) and Luftballons ([ˈlʊftbaˌlɔŋs]) 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) - “Luftballon” sits inside “Luftballons”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60064, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Luftballon is recorded at frequency rank #40,073, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlʊftbaˌlɔŋ]. Luftballons is at rank #19,991, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlʊftbaˌlɔŋs].
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 60064, this pair ranks #800,973 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Luftballon vs Luftballons
Shared letters: abflnotu. Private to "Luftballon": -. Private to "Luftballons": s.
"Luftballon" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC · "Luftballons" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Luftballon ← lfutballon · lluftballon · lufbtallon · lufftballon · luftabllon · luftballno · luftballonn · luftbaloln
- Luftballons ← lfutballons · lluftballons · lufbtallons · lufftballons · luftabllons · luftballnos · luftballonns · luftballonss
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Luftballon" for "Luftballons" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Luftballon" vs "Luftballons" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Luftballon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Luftballons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #800,973 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #800,973 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.