PensionvsPensionenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,796
“Pension” frequency rank
#16,512
“Pensionen” frequency rank
24308
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pension Pensionen
Definition kleiner Hotelbetrieb mit meist privater Atmosphäre Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pension

Where the eye mixes Pension and Pensionen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Pension runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against Pensionen's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Pension
9 ch
Pensionen

Visual trap between Pension and Pensionen

A purely visual mix-up. Pension ([pɑ̃ˈzi̯oːn]) and Pensionen ([pɑ̃ˈzi̯oːnən]) 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) - “Pension” sits inside “Pensionen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24308, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pension is recorded at frequency rank #7,796, classified as anoun, pronounced [pɑ̃ˈzi̯oːn]. Pensionen is at rank #16,512, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɑ̃ˈzi̯oːnən].

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 24308, this pair ranks #1,849,468 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pension vs Pensionen

Shared letters: einops. Private to "Pension": -. Private to "Pensionen": -.

"Pension" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "Pensionen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pension ← epnsion · penison · pennsion · pensino · pensionn · pensoin · penssion · pesnion
  • Pensionen ← epnsionen · penisonen · pennsionen · pensinoen · pensioenn · pensionenn · pensionne · pensionnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pension" and "Pensionen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɑ̃ˈzi̯oːn] versus [pɑ̃ˈzi̯oːnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Pension" vs "Pensionen" - which ranks higher?
"Pension" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,796 in our German list, against #16,512 for "Pensionen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pension" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pensionen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,849,468 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pension" and "Pensionen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pension vs Persien". 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 #1,849,468 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