Which to use
“turnen” is a verb and “Turnier” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,433
- “turnen” frequency rank
- #3,082
- “Turnier” frequency rank
- 20515
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | turnen | Turnier |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sportliche Übungen an/mit bestimmten Geräten ausüben | Veranstaltung, auf der in bestimmten Sportdisziplinen, Sportarten aus einer großen Teilnehmerzahl meist in mehreren einzelnen Wettkämpfen der Sieger ermittelt wird |
Where the eye mixes turnen and Turnier
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. turnen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Turnier's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses turnen with Turnier
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: turnen is [ˈtʊʁnən] while Turnier is [tʊʁˈniːɐ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20515, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
turnen is recorded at frequency rank #17,433, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtʊʁnən]. Turnier is at rank #3,082, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tʊʁˈniːɐ̯].
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 20515, this pair ranks #1,896,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of turnen vs Turnier
Shared letters: enrtu. Private to "turnen": -. Private to "Turnier": i.
"turnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Turnier" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "turnen" and "Turnier" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "turnen" or "Turnier" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "turnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Turnier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,896,802 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "turnen" and "Turnier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Turmes vs turnen". 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 #1,896,802 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.