Which to use
“eine” is a determiner and “einen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19
- “eine” frequency rank
- #46
- “einen” frequency rank
- 65
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eine | einen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | [1] Nominativ Singular Femininum des unbestimmten Artikels ein | zur Gemeinsamkeit führen |
Where the eye mixes eine and einen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses eine with einen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eine is [ˈaɪ̯nə] while einen is [ˈaɪ̯nən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “eine” sits inside “einen”, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eine is recorded at frequency rank #19, classified as adet, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nə]. einen is at rank #46, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nən].
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 65, this pair ranks #2,006,309 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of eine vs einen
Shared letters: ein. Private to "eine": -. Private to "einen": -.
"eine" · 4 letters · shape VVCV · "einen" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "eine" for "einen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "eine" or "einen"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "eine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "einen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,006,309 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eine" and "einen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einen vs Eupen". 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 #2,006,309 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.