OrdensvsordernTell them apart

Quick tell: Ordens is a noun, ordern is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ordens” is a noun and “ordern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,376
“Ordens” frequency rank
#37,714
“ordern” frequency rank
52090
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ordens ordern
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Orden einen Auftrag (eine Order) erteilen; etwas bestellen

Where the eye mixes Ordens and ordern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Ordens and ordern follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Ordens
6 ch
ordern

Why the eye confuses Ordens with ordern

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ordens is [ˈɔʁdn̩s] while ordern is [ˈɔʁdɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ordens is recorded at frequency rank #14,376, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɔʁdn̩s]. ordern is at rank #37,714, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɔʁdɐn].

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 52090, this pair ranks #1,110,344 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ordens vs ordern

Shared letters: denor. Private to "Ordens": s. Private to "ordern": -.

"Ordens" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "ordern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ordens ← odrens · orddens · ordenns · ordenss · ordesn · ordnes · oredns · orrdens
  • ordern ← odrern · orddern · ordernn · orderrn · ordren · oredrn · orrdern · rodern

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ordens" and "ordern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ordens" is a noun and "ordern" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ordens" or "ordern"?
"Ordens" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,376 in our German list, against #37,714 for "ordern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ordens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ordern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,110,344 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ordens" and "ordern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ordern vs orders". 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 #1,110,344 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