PetitionenvsPositionenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,279
“Petitionen” frequency rank
#3,394
“Positionen” frequency rank
32673
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Petitionen Positionen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Petition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Position

Where the eye mixes Petitionen and Positionen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Petitionen and Positionen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
Petitionen
10 ch
Positionen

Visual trap between Petitionen and Positionen

A purely visual mix-up. Petitionen ([petiˈt͡si̯oːnən]) and Positionen ([poziˈt͡si̯oːnən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32673, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Petitionen is recorded at frequency rank #29,279, classified as anoun, pronounced [petiˈt͡si̯oːnən]. Positionen is at rank #3,394, tagged as anoun, pronounced [poziˈt͡si̯oːnən].

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 32673, this pair ranks #1,702,527 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Petitionen vs Positionen

Shared letters: einopt. Private to "Petitionen": -. Private to "Positionen": s.

"Petitionen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC  ·  "Positionen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Petitionen ← eptitionen · peittionen · petiitonen · petitinoen · petitioenn · petitionenn · petitionne · petitionnen
  • Positionen ← opsitionen · poistionen · posiitonen · positinoen · positioenn · positionenn · positionne · positionnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Petitionen" and "Positionen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([petiˈt͡si̯oːnən] versus [poziˈt͡si̯oːnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Petitionen" or "Positionen" show up more?
"Positionen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,394 in our German list, against #29,279 for "Petitionen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Petitionen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Positionen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,702,527 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Petitionen" and "Positionen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Petition vs Petitionen". 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 #1,702,527 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