einbildenvseinbindenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,063
“einbilden” frequency rank
#23,900
“einbinden” frequency rank
61963
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einbilden einbinden
Definition sich ein Trugbild (von etwas) machen, etwas irrtümlich annehmen, einer falschen Vorstellung unterliegen mit einem Verband, einer Binde umwickeln (verbinden), einwickeln

Where the eye mixes einbilden and einbinden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
einbilden
9 ch
einbinden

Why the eye confuses einbilden with einbinden

A purely visual mix-up. einbilden ([ˈaɪ̯nˌbɪldn̩]) and einbinden ([ˈaɪ̯nˌbɪndn̩]) 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 “einbilden” becomes n in “einbinden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61963, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einbilden is recorded at frequency rank #38,063, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌbɪldn̩]. einbinden is at rank #23,900, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌbɪndn̩].

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 61963, this pair ranks #730,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of einbilden vs einbinden

Shared letters: bdein. Private to "einbilden": l. Private to "einbinden": -.

"einbilden" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "einbinden" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einbildeneibnilden · einbbilden · einbidlen · einbildden · einbildenn · einbildne · einbiledn · einbillden
  • einbindeneibninden · einbbinden · einbidnen · einbindden · einbindenn · einbindne · einbinedn · einbinnden

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "einbilden" for "einbinden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌbɪldn̩] versus [ˈaɪ̯nˌbɪndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "einbilden" or "einbinden" show up more?
"einbinden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,900 in our German list, against #38,063 for "einbilden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "einbilden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "einbinden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #730,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einbilden" and "einbinden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einbilden vs einfinden". 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 #730,310 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