Which to use
“eben” and “eigen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #357
- “eben” frequency rank
- #8,852
- “eigen” frequency rank
- 9209
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eben | eigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | parallel zu einer gleichmäßig flachen Erdoberfläche; horizontal verlaufend, liegend; waagerecht | jemandem oder etwas zugehörig, jemandem selbst gehörend |
Where the eye mixes eben and eigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. eben runs 4 letters (VCVC) against eigen's 5 (VVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between eben and eigen
A purely visual mix-up. eben ([ˈeːbn̩]) and eigen ([ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩]) 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 9209, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eben is recorded at frequency rank #357, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːbn̩]. eigen is at rank #8,852, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩].
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 9209, this pair ranks #1,980,969 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of eben vs eigen
Shared letters: en. Private to "eben": b. Private to "eigen": gi.
"eben" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "eigen" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "eben" and "eigen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "eben" vs "eigen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "eben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "eigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,980,969 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eben" and "eigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eigen vs Eupen". 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 #1,980,969 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.