eignevsEignerTell them apart

Quick tell: eigne is a verb, Eigner is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eigne” is a verb and “Eigner” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,443
“eigne” frequency rank
#25,971
“Eigner” frequency rank
68414
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eigne Eigner
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs eignen Person, die Eigentümer von etwas ist

Where the eye mixes eigne and Eigner

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

5 ch
eigne
6 ch
Eigner

Why the eye confuses eigne with Eigner

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eigne is [ˈaɪ̯ɡnə] while Eigner is [ˈaɪ̯ɡnɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “eigne” sits inside “Eigner”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eigne is recorded at frequency rank #42,443, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡnə]. Eigner is at rank #25,971, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡnɐ].

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 68414, this pair ranks #508,534 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of eigne vs Eigner

Shared letters: egin. Private to "eigne": -. Private to "Eigner": r.

"eigne" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV  ·  "Eigner" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eigneegine · eiggne · einge · iegne
  • Eignereginer · eigenr · eiggner · eignerr · eignner · eignre · einger · iegner

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eigne" and "Eigner" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eigne" is a verb and "Eigner" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eigne" or "Eigner"?
"Eigner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,971 in our German list, against #42,443 for "eigne". 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 "eigne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Eigner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #508,534 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eigne" and "Eigner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eigne 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 #508,534 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