PensionvsPersonWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,796
“Pension” frequency rank
#445
“Person” frequency rank
8241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pension Person
Definition kleiner Hotelbetrieb mit meist privater Atmosphäre ein Mensch

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Pension and Person apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Pension
6 ch
Person

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Pension ([pɑ̃ˈzi̯oːn]) and Person ([pɛʁˈzoːn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8241, 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]. Person is at rank #445, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɛʁˈzoːn].

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 8241, this pair ranks #1,985,075 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pension vs Person

Shared letters: enops. Private to "Pension": i. Private to "Person": r.

"Pension" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "Person" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pensionepnsion · penison · pennsion · pensino · pensionn · pensoin · penssion · pesnion
  • Personeprson · perosn · perrson · persno · personn · persson · pesron · pperson

Frequency comparison

Pension#7,796
Person#445

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pension" and "Person" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɑ̃ˈzi̯oːn] versus [pɛʁˈzoːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Pension" or "Person"?
"Person" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #445 in our German list, against #7,796 for "Pension". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Pension vs Person

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Pension” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list