PositionvsPositivenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,239
“Position” frequency rank
#3,208
“Positiven” frequency rank
4447
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Position Positiven
Definition Ort, Standort Dativ Plural des Substantivs Positiv

Where the eye mixes Position and Positiven

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Position
9 ch
Positiven

Look-alike desk: Position vs Positiven

A purely visual mix-up. Position ([poziˈt͡si̯oːn]) and Positiven ([ˈpoːzitiːvn̩]) 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 4447, 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]. Positiven is at rank #3,208, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpoːzitiːvn̩].

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 4447, this pair ranks #1,997,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Position vs Positiven

Shared letters: inopst. Private to "Position": -. Private to "Positiven": ev.

"Position" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "Positiven" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Positionopsition · poistion · posiiton · positino · positionn · positoin · posittion · possition
  • Positivenopsitiven · poistiven · posiitven · positievn · positivenn · positivne · positivven · posittiven

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Position" for "Positiven" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([poziˈt͡si̯oːn] versus [ˈpoːzitiːvn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Position" or "Positiven"?
"Position" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,239 in our German list, against #3,208 for "Positiven". 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 "Position" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Positiven" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,997,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Position" and "Positiven" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "positivem vs Positiven". 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 #1,997,702 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