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 eye mixes Pension and Person
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Pension runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against Person's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Pension vs Person
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Pension" and "Person" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Pension" or "Person" show up more?
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 "Pension" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Person" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,985,075 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Pension" and "Person" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "period vs Person". 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 #1,985,075 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.