eigenvseigenerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,852
“eigen” frequency rank
#2,141
“eigener” frequency rank
10993
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eigen eigener
Definition jemandem oder etwas zugehörig, jemandem selbst gehörend Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs eigen

Where the eye mixes eigen and eigener

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
eigen
7 ch
eigener

Look-alike desk: eigen vs eigener

A purely visual mix-up. eigen ([ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩]) and eigener ([ˈaɪ̯ɡənɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “eigen” sits inside “eigener”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eigen is recorded at frequency rank #8,852, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩]. eigener is at rank #2,141, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡənɐ].

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 10993, this pair ranks #1,972,249 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of eigen vs eigener

Shared letters: egin. Private to "eigen": -. Private to "eigener": r.

"eigen" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC  ·  "eigener" · 7 letters · shape VVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eigenegien · eiegn · eiggen · iegen
  • eigeneregiener · eiegner · eigeenr · eigenerr · eigenner · eigenre · eiggener · eigneer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "eigen" and "eigener" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩] versus [ˈaɪ̯ɡənɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "eigen" or "eigener" show up more?
"eigener" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,141 in our German list, against #8,852 for "eigen". 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 "eigen" and "eigener" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "eigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eigener" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,972,249 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eigen" and "eigener" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eigen 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 #1,972,249 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