ebenvseenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: eben is a adjective, een is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eben” is an adjective and “een” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#357
“eben” frequency rank
#33,012
“een” frequency rank
33369
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eben een
Definition parallel zu einer gleichmäßig flachen Erdoberfläche; horizontal verlaufend, liegend; waagerecht eins; einer; ein einziger

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set eben and een apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
eben
3 ch
een

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

eben and een form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eben is recorded at frequency rank #357, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːbn̩]. een is at rank #33,012, tagged as anum, pronounced […].

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 33369, this pair ranks #1,687,449 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

eben#357
een#33,012

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eben" and "een" be used interchangeably?
No, "eben" and "een" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering eben vs een

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “eben”; for a num, it's “een”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “eben” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list