ehrenvseilenConfusable pair

Which to use

“ehren” and “eilen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,882
“ehren” frequency rank
#25,518
“eilen” frequency rank
29400
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ehren eilen
Definition jemanden hoch schätzen; Hochachtung zeigen schnell gehen, um ein Ziel möglichst schnell zu erreichen

Where the eye mixes ehren and eilen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ehren
5 ch
eilen

Visual trap between ehren and eilen

A purely visual mix-up. ehren ([ˈeːʁən]) and eilen ([ˈaɪ̯lən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29400, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ehren is recorded at frequency rank #3,882, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈeːʁən]. eilen is at rank #25,518, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯lən].

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 29400, this pair ranks #1,767,487 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ehren vs eilen

Shared letters: en. Private to "ehren": hr. Private to "eilen": il.

"ehren" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "eilen" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ehrenehern · ehhren · ehrenn · ehrne · erhen
  • eileneieln · eilenn · eillen · eilne · elien · ielen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ehren" and "eilen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈeːʁən] versus [ˈaɪ̯lən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ehren" vs "eilen" - which ranks higher?
"ehren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,882 in our German list, against #25,518 for "eilen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "ehren" and "eilen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,767,487 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ehren" and "eilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eilen 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 #1,767,487 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list