Which to use
“ebnen” is a verb and “einem” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,123
- “ebnen” frequency rank
- #57
- “einem” frequency rank
- 41180
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ebnen | einem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas auf eine Ebene oder die gleiche Höhe bringen; eben machen | [1] Dativ Singular Maskulinum des unbestimmten Artikels ein |
Where the eye mixes ebnen and einem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ebnen with einem
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ebnen is [ˈeːbnən] while einem is [ˈaɪ̯nəm]. 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 determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41180, 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]. einem is at rank #57, tagged as adet, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nəm].
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 41180, this pair ranks #1,487,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ebnen vs einem
Shared letters: en. Private to "ebnen": b. Private to "einem": im.
"ebnen" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "einem" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ebnen" for "einem" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ebnen" or "einem" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ebnen" and "einem" 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 "einem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,487,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ebnen" and "einem" 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 #1,487,010 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.