Which to use
“ebnen” is a verb and “eigen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,123
- “ebnen” frequency rank
- #8,852
- “eigen” frequency rank
- 49975
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ebnen | eigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas auf eine Ebene oder die gleiche Höhe bringen; eben machen | jemandem oder etwas zugehörig, jemandem selbst gehörend |
Where the eye mixes ebnen and eigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ebnen with eigen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ebnen is [ˈeːbnən] while eigen is [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49975, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ebnen is recorded at frequency rank #41,123, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈeːbnən]. 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 49975, this pair ranks #1,191,347 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ebnen vs eigen
Shared letters: en. Private to "ebnen": b. Private to "eigen": gi.
"ebnen" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "eigen" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ebnen" and "eigen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ebnen" vs "eigen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ebnen" and "eigen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ebnen" 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 #1,191,347 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ebnen" and "eigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ebnen 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 #1,191,347 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.