EiervsElferTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,440
“Eier” frequency rank
#30,527
“Elfer” frequency rank
32967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Eier Elfer
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ei etwas mit Größe, Wert, Maß oder Nummer 11

Where the eye mixes Eier and Elfer

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

4 ch
Eier
5 ch
Elfer

Visual trap between Eier and Elfer

A purely visual mix-up. Eier ([ˈaɪ̯ɐ]) and Elfer ([ˈɛlfɐ]) 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 32967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Eier is recorded at frequency rank #2,440, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɐ]. Elfer is at rank #30,527, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛlfɐ].

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 32967, this pair ranks #1,696,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Eier vs Elfer

Shared letters: er. Private to "Eier": i. Private to "Elfer": fl.

"Eier" · 4 letters · shape VVVC  ·  "Elfer" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Eiereeir · eierr · eire · ieer
  • Elferefler · elefr · elferr · elffer · elfre · ellfer · lefer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Eier" and "Elfer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯ɐ] versus [ˈɛlfɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Eier" or "Elfer"?
"Eier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,440 in our German list, against #30,527 for "Elfer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Eier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Elfer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,696,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Eier" and "Elfer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Efeu vs Elfer". 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 #1,696,215 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