Which to use
“eignen” is a verb and “eine” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,034
- “eignen” frequency rank
- #19
- “eine” frequency rank
- 7053
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eignen | eine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | für einen Einsatz, eine Funktion benötigte Eigenschaften oder Fähigkeiten besitzen | [1] Nominativ Singular Femininum des unbestimmten Artikels ein |
Where the eye mixes eignen and eine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. eignen runs 6 letters (VVCCVC) against eine's 4 (VVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: eignen vs eine
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eignen is [ˈaɪ̯ɡnən] 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 (verb vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7053, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eignen is recorded at frequency rank #7,034, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯ɡnən]. 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 7053, this pair ranks #1,989,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of eignen vs eine
Shared letters: ein. Private to "eignen": g. Private to "eine": -.
"eignen" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC · "eine" · 4 letters · shape VVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "eignen" for "eine" ever safe?
Which is more common, "eignen" or "eine"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "eignen" and "eine" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "eignen" 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 #1,989,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eignen" and "eine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eignen 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 #1,989,543 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.