ebenvsedelWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#357
“eben” frequency rank
#13,343
“edel” frequency rank
13700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eben edel
Definition parallel zu einer gleichmäßig flachen Erdoberfläche; horizontal verlaufend, liegend; waagerecht von hochwertiger Qualität

Where the eye mixes eben and edel

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
eben
4 ch
edel

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. eben ([ˈeːbn̩]) and edel ([ˈeːdl̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eben is recorded at frequency rank #357, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːbn̩]. edel is at rank #13,343, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːdl̩].

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 13700, this pair ranks #1,956,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of eben vs edel

Shared letters: e. Private to "eben": bn. Private to "edel": dl.

"eben" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "edel" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ebenebben · ebenn · ebne · eebn
  • edeldeel · eddel · edell · eedl

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eben" and "edel" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈeːbn̩] versus [ˈeːdl̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "eben" or "edel"?
"eben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #357 in our German list, against #13,343 for "edel". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list