PockenvsPostenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,854
“Pocken” frequency rank
#2,173
“Posten” frequency rank
37027
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pocken Posten
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pocke Teil einer Gesamtmenge

Where the eye mixes Pocken and Posten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Pocken
6 ch
Posten

Visual trap between Pocken and Posten

A purely visual mix-up. Pocken ([ˈpɔkn̩]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37027, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pocken is recorded at frequency rank #34,854, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɔkn̩]. 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 37027, this pair ranks #1,600,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pocken vs Posten

Shared letters: enop. Private to "Pocken": ck. Private to "Posten": st.

"Pocken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Posten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pockenopcken · pcoken · poccken · pocekn · pockenn · pockken · pockne · pokcen
  • Postenopsten · posetn · possten · postenn · postne · postten · potsen · pposten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pocken" and "Posten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpɔkn̩] versus [ˈpɔstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Pocken" vs "Posten" - which ranks higher?
"Posten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,173 in our German list, against #34,854 for "Pocken". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Pocken" 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 #1,600,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pocken" and "Posten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "picken vs Pocken". 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 #1,600,665 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