posierenvsprobierenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#43,418
“posieren” frequency rank
#3,840
“probieren” frequency rank
47258
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature posieren probieren
Definition aus besonderen Anlässen eine besondere körperliche Haltung präsentieren versuchen; testen; eine Probe machen

Where the eye mixes posieren and probieren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. posieren runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against probieren's 9 (CCVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
posieren
9 ch
probieren

Why the eye confuses posieren with probieren

A purely visual mix-up. posieren ([poˈziːʁən]) and probieren ([pʁoˈbiːʁən]) 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 47258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

posieren is recorded at frequency rank #43,418, classified as averb, pronounced [poˈziːʁən]. probieren is at rank #3,840, tagged as averb, pronounced [pʁoˈbiːʁən].

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 47258, this pair ranks #1,290,679 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of posieren vs probieren

Shared letters: einopr. Private to "posieren": s. Private to "probieren": b.

"posieren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "probieren" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • posieren ← opsieren · poiseren · poseiren · posieern · posierenn · posierne · posierren · posireen
  • probieren ← porbieren · pprobieren · prboieren · probbieren · probeiren · probieern · probierenn · probierne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "posieren" and "probieren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([poˈziːʁən] versus [pʁoˈbiːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "posieren" or "probieren"?
"probieren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,840 in our German list, against #43,418 for "posieren". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "posieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "probieren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,290,679 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "posieren" and "probieren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "posieren vs posiert". 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 #1,290,679 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