eiltvseintWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“eilt” and “eint” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,395
“eilt” frequency rank
#35,734
“eint” frequency rank
52129
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eilt eint
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs eilen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs einen

Where the eye mixes eilt and eint

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

4 ch
eilt
4 ch
eint

Visual trap between eilt and eint

A purely visual mix-up. eilt ([aɪ̯lt]) and eint ([aɪ̯nt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - l in “eilt” becomes n in “eint”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eilt is recorded at frequency rank #16,395, classified as averb, pronounced [aɪ̯lt]. eint is at rank #35,734, tagged as averb, pronounced [aɪ̯nt].

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 52129, this pair ranks #1,108,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of eilt vs eint

Shared letters: eit. Private to "eilt": l. Private to "eint": n.

"eilt" · 4 letters · shape VVCC  ·  "eint" · 4 letters · shape VVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eilteillt · eiltt · eitl · elit · ielt
  • einteinnt · eintt · eitn · enit · ient

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "eilt" and "eint" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aɪ̯lt] versus [aɪ̯nt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "eilt" or "eint" show up more?
"eilt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,395 in our German list, against #35,734 for "eint". 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 "eilt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eint" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,108,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eilt" and "eint" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "EBIT vs eint". 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 #1,108,907 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