eigenervseignetWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#2,141
“eigener” frequency rank
#8,348
“eignet” frequency rank
10489
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eigener eignet
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs eigen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs eignen

Where the eye mixes eigener and eignet

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

7 ch
eigener
6 ch
eignet

Why the eye confuses eigener with eignet

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eigener is [ˈaɪ̯ɡənɐ] 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 10489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eigener is recorded at frequency rank #2,141, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡənɐ]. 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 10489, this pair ranks #1,974,878 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of eigener vs eignet

Shared letters: egin. Private to "eigener": r. Private to "eignet": t.

"eigener" · 7 letters · shape VVCVCVC  ·  "eignet" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eigeneregiener · eiegner · eigeenr · eigenerr · eigenner · eigenre · eiggener · eigneer
  • eigneteginet · eigent · eiggnet · eignett · eignnet · eignte · einget · iegnet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "eigener" for "eignet" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eigener" is an adjective and "eignet" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "eigener" or "eignet" show up more?
"eigener" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,141 in our German list, against #8,348 for "eignet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "eigener" 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 #1,974,878 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eigener" and "eignet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eignet 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

Confusion rank #1,974,878 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