PositionenvsPositivenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,394
“Positionen” frequency rank
#3,208
“Positiven” frequency rank
6602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Positionen Positiven
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Position Dativ Plural des Substantivs Positiv

Where the eye mixes Positionen and Positiven

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Positionen runs 10 letters (CVCVCVVCVC) against Positiven's 9 (CVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
Positionen
9 ch
Positiven

Why the eye confuses Positionen with Positiven

A purely visual mix-up. Positionen ([poziˈt͡si̯oːnən]) 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 6602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Positionen is recorded at frequency rank #3,394, classified as anoun, pronounced [poziˈt͡si̯oːnən]. 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 6602, this pair ranks #1,991,078 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Positionen vs Positiven

Shared letters: einopst. Private to "Positionen": -. Private to "Positiven": v.

"Positionen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC  ·  "Positiven" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Positionen ← opsitionen · poistionen · posiitonen · positinoen · positioenn · positionenn · positionne · positionnen
  • Positiven ← opsitiven · poistiven · posiitven · positievn · positivenn · positivne · positivven · posittiven

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Positionen" for "Positiven" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([poziˈt͡si̯oːnən] versus [ˈpoːzitiːvn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Positionen" vs "Positiven" - which ranks higher?
"Positiven" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,208 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.

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 "Positionen" 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 #1,991,078 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Positionen" 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 #1,991,078 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