eigenenvseingebenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#351
“eigenen” frequency rank
#14,048
“eingeben” frequency rank
14399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eigenen eingeben
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs eigen jemandem etwas (vor allem eine Arznei in einer bestimmten festgesetzten Menge) zum Hinunterschlucken langsam in den Mund geben, jemanden etwas vorsichtig einnehmen lassen

Where the eye mixes eigenen and eingeben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
eigenen
8 ch
eingeben

Visual trap between eigenen and eingeben

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eigenen is [ˈaɪ̯ɡənən] while eingeben is [ˈaɪ̯nˌɡeːbn̩]. 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 14399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eigenen is recorded at frequency rank #351, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡənən]. eingeben is at rank #14,048, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌɡeːbn̩].

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 14399, this pair ranks #1,951,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of eigenen vs eingeben

Shared letters: egin. Private to "eigenen": -. Private to "eingeben": b.

"eigenen" · 7 letters · shape VVCVCVC  ·  "eingeben" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eigenenegienen · eiegnen · eigeenn · eigenenn · eigenne · eigennen · eiggenen · eigneen
  • eingebeneigneben · einegben · eingbeen · eingebben · eingebenn · eingebne · eingeebn · einggeben

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eigenen" and "eingeben" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eigenen" is an adjective and "eingeben" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eigenen" or "eingeben"?
"eigenen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #351 in our German list, against #14,048 for "eingeben". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "eigenen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eingeben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,951,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eigenen" and "eingeben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eingeben vs Eingebung". 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 #1,951,469 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