EikevseinerWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Eike is a name, einer is a determiner, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Eike” is a name and “einer” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,516
“Eike” frequency rank
#51
“einer” frequency rank
31567
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Eike einer
Definition weiblicher Vorname [1] Genitiv Singular Femininum des unbestimmten Artikels ein

Where the eye mixes Eike and einer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Eike
5 ch
einer

Why the eye confuses Eike with einer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Eike is [ˈaɪ̯kə] while einer is [ˈaɪ̯nɐ]. 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 (name vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31567, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Eike is recorded at frequency rank #31,516, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯kə]. einer is at rank #51, tagged as adet, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nɐ].

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 31567, this pair ranks #1,725,506 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Eike vs einer

Shared letters: ei. Private to "Eike": k. Private to "einer": nr.

"Eike" · 4 letters · shape VVCV  ·  "einer" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Eikeeiek · eikke · ekie · ieke
  • einereienr · einerr · einner · einre · enier · iener

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Eike" for "einer" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Eike" is a name and "einer" a determiner, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Eike" or "einer"?
"einer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #51 in our German list, against #31,516 for "Eike". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Eike" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "einer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,725,506 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Eike" and "einer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Eike vs Erle". 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 #1,725,506 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