OperationvsOperationenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,674
“Operation” frequency rank
#7,513
“Operationen” frequency rank
10187
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Operation Operationen
Definition chirurgischer Eingriff in den Organismus Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Operation

Where the eye mixes Operation and Operationen

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

9 ch
Operation
11 ch
Operationen

Look-alike desk: Operation vs Operationen

A purely visual mix-up. Operation ([opəʁaˈt͡si̯oːn]) and Operationen ([opəʁaˈt͡si̯oːnən]) 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) - “Operation” sits inside “Operationen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10187, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Operation is recorded at frequency rank #2,674, classified as anoun, pronounced [opəʁaˈt͡si̯oːn]. Operationen is at rank #7,513, tagged as anoun, pronounced [opəʁaˈt͡si̯oːnən].

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 10187, this pair ranks #1,976,364 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Operation vs Operationen

Shared letters: aeinoprt. Private to "Operation": -. Private to "Operationen": -.

"Operation" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVVC  ·  "Operationen" · 11 letters · shape VCVCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Operationoepration · opeartion · operaiton · operatino · operationn · operatoin · operattion · operration
  • Operationenoeprationen · opeartionen · operaitonen · operatinoen · operatioenn · operationenn · operationne · operationnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Operation" and "Operationen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([opəʁaˈt͡si̯oːn] versus [opəʁaˈt͡si̯oːnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Operation" or "Operationen"?
"Operation" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,674 in our German list, against #7,513 for "Operationen". 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 "Operation" and "Operationen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Operation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Operationen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,976,364 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Operation" and "Operationen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Operationen vs operations". 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 #1,976,364 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