eigensvsewigenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: eigens is a adverb, ewigen is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eigens” is an adverb and “ewigen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,901
“eigens” frequency rank
#8,707
“ewigen” frequency rank
16608
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eigens ewigen
Definition besonders für diesen Menschen oder für diesen Zweck Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ewig

Where the eye mixes eigens and ewigen

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

6 ch
eigens
6 ch
ewigen

Visual trap between eigens and ewigen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eigens is [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩s] while ewigen is [ˈeːvɪɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eigens is recorded at frequency rank #7,901, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡn̩s]. ewigen is at rank #8,707, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːvɪɡn̩].

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 16608, this pair ranks #1,934,434 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of eigens vs ewigen

Shared letters: egin. Private to "eigens": s. Private to "ewigen": w.

"eigens" · 6 letters · shape VVCVCC  ·  "ewigen" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eigensegiens · eiegns · eigenns · eigenss · eigesn · eiggens · eignes · iegens
  • ewigeneiwgen · ewgien · ewiegn · ewigenn · ewiggen · ewigne · ewwigen · weigen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eigens" and "ewigen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eigens" is an adverb and "ewigen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eigens" or "ewigen"?
"eigens" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,901 in our German list, against #8,707 for "ewigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "eigens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ewigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,934,434 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eigens" and "ewigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Eigelb vs eigens". 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 #1,934,434 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