einevseinemWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19
“eine” frequency rank
#57
“einem” frequency rank
76
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eine einem
Definition [1] Nominativ Singular Femininum des unbestimmten Artikels ein [1] Dativ Singular Maskulinum des unbestimmten Artikels ein

Where the eye mixes eine and einem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
eine
5 ch
einem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. eine ([ˈaɪ̯nə]) and einem ([ˈaɪ̯nəm]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “eine” sits inside “einem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eine is recorded at frequency rank #19, classified as adet, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nə]. einem is at rank #57, tagged as adet, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nəm].

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 76, this pair ranks #2,006,294 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of eine vs einem

Shared letters: ein. Private to "eine": -. Private to "einem": m.

"eine" · 4 letters · shape VVCV  ·  "einem" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eineeien · einne · enie · iene
  • einemeienm · einemm · einme · einnem · eniem · ienem

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eine" and "einem" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nə] versus [ˈaɪ̯nəm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "eine" or "einem"?
"eine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19 in our German list, against #57 for "einem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list