PositionvsPositionenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,239
“Position” frequency rank
#3,394
“Positionen” frequency rank
4633
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Position Positionen
Definition Ort, Standort Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Position

Where the eye mixes Position and Positionen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Position
10 ch
Positionen

Why the eye confuses Position with Positionen

A purely visual mix-up. Position ([poziˈt͡si̯oːn]) 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 differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Position” sits inside “Positionen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Position is recorded at frequency rank #1,239, classified as anoun, pronounced [poziˈt͡si̯oːn]. 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 4633, this pair ranks #1,997,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Position vs Positionen

Shared letters: inopst. Private to "Position": -. Private to "Positionen": e.

"Position" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "Positionen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Positionopsition · poistion · posiiton · positino · positionn · positoin · posittion · possition
  • Positionenopsitionen · poistionen · posiitonen · positinoen · positioenn · positionenn · positionne · positionnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Position" for "Positionen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([poziˈt͡si̯oːn] versus [poziˈt͡si̯oːnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Position" or "Positionen" show up more?
"Position" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,239 in our German list, against #3,394 for "Positionen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Position" 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 #1,997,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Position" and "Positionen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Petitionen vs Positionen". 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 #1,997,152 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