PfostenvsPostenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,797
“Pfosten” frequency rank
#2,173
“Posten” frequency rank
9970
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pfosten Posten
Definition vertikales Konstruktionselement Teil einer Gesamtmenge

Where the eye mixes Pfosten and Posten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Pfosten
6 ch
Posten

Look-alike desk: Pfosten vs Posten

A purely visual mix-up. Pfosten ([ˈp͡fɔstn̩]) and Posten ([ˈpɔstn̩]) 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 9970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pfosten is recorded at frequency rank #7,797, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈp͡fɔstn̩]. Posten is at rank #2,173, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɔstn̩].

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 9970, this pair ranks #1,977,404 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pfosten vs Posten

Shared letters: enopst. Private to "Pfosten": f. Private to "Posten": -.

"Pfosten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Posten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pfostenfposten · pffosten · pfosetn · pfossten · pfostenn · pfostne · pfostten · pfotsen
  • Postenopsten · posetn · possten · postenn · postne · postten · potsen · pposten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Pfosten" for "Posten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈp͡fɔstn̩] versus [ˈpɔstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Pfosten" or "Posten" show up more?
"Posten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,173 in our German list, against #7,797 for "Pfosten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pfosten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Posten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,977,404 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pfosten" and "Posten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pfosten vs posted". 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 #1,977,404 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