Which to use
“Pensionen” and “Personen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,512
- “Pensionen” frequency rank
- #508
- “Personen” frequency rank
- 17020
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Pensionen | Personen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pension | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Person |
Where the eye mixes Pensionen and Personen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Pensionen runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCVC) against Personen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Pensionen with Personen
A purely visual mix-up. Pensionen ([pɑ̃ˈzi̯oːnən]) and Personen ([pɛʁˈzoːnən]) 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 17020, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Pensionen is recorded at frequency rank #16,512, classified as anoun, pronounced [pɑ̃ˈzi̯oːnən]. Personen is at rank #508, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɛʁˈzoːnən].
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 17020, this pair ranks #1,931,049 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Pensionen vs Personen
Shared letters: enops. Private to "Pensionen": i. Private to "Personen": r.
"Pensionen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "Personen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Pensionen" and "Personen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Pensionen" or "Personen" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Pensionen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Personen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,931,049 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Pensionen" and "Personen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Perioden vs Personen". 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 #1,931,049 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.