eigenevseineWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: eigene is a adjective, eine is a determiner, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eigene” is an adjective and “eine” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#540
“eigene” frequency rank
#19
“eine” frequency rank
559
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eigene eine
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs eigen [1] Nominativ Singular Femininum des unbestimmten Artikels ein

Where the eye mixes eigene and eine

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

6 ch
eigene
4 ch
eine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eigene is [ˈaɪ̯ɡənə] while eine is [ˈaɪ̯nə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eigene is recorded at frequency rank #540, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡənə]. eine is at rank #19, tagged as adet, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nə].

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 559, this pair ranks #2,005,688 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of eigene vs eine

Shared letters: ein. Private to "eigene": g. Private to "eine": -.

"eigene" · 6 letters · shape VVCVCV  ·  "eine" · 4 letters · shape VVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eigeneegiene · eiegne · eigeen · eiggene · eignee · iegene
  • eineeien · einne · enie · iene

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eigene" and "eine" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eigene" is an adjective and "eine" a determiner, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eigene" or "eine"?
"eine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19 in our German list, against #540 for "eigene". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "eigene" and "eine". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "eigene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,005,688 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eigene" and "eine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eigene vs eignete". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list