ebenvsenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#357
“eben” frequency rank
#1,179
“en” frequency rank
1536
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes eben and en

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

4 ch
eben
2 ch
en

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eben is [ˈeːbn̩] while en is [eːˀn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “en” sits inside “eben”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eben is recorded at frequency rank #357, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːbn̩]. en is at rank #1,179, tagged as anum, pronounced [eːˀn].

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 1536, this pair ranks #2,004,164 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of eben vs en

Shared letters: en. Private to "eben": b. Private to "en": -.

"eben" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "en" · 2 letters · shape VC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ebenebben · ebenn · ebne · eebn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eben" and "en" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eben" is an adjective and "en" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eben" or "en"?
"eben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #357 in our German list, against #1,179 for "en". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "eben" and "en". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "eben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "en" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,004,164 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eben" and "en" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "en vs eo". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list