eigenvseignetWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: eigen is a adjective, eignet is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eigen” is an adjective and “eignet” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,852
“eigen” frequency rank
#8,348
“eignet” frequency rank
17200
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eigen eignet
Definition jemandem oder etwas zugehörig, jemandem selbst gehörend 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs eignen

Where the eye mixes eigen and eignet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
eigen
6 ch
eignet

Visual trap between eigen and eignet

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eigen is [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩] while eignet is [ˈaɪ̯ɡnət]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17200, 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]. eignet is at rank #8,348, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡnət].

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 17200, this pair ranks #1,929,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of eigen vs eignet

Shared letters: egin. Private to "eigen": -. Private to "eignet": t.

"eigen" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC  ·  "eignet" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eigenegien · eiegn · eiggen · iegen
  • eigneteginet · eigent · eiggnet · eignett · eignnet · eignte · einget · iegnet

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "eigen" and "eignet" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eigen" is an adjective and "eignet" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "eigen" or "eignet" show up more?
"eignet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,348 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "eigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eignet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,929,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eigen" and "eignet" 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 #1,929,484 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