einevsewigeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: eine is a determiner, ewige is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eine” is a determiner and “ewige” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19
“eine” frequency rank
#7,914
“ewige” frequency rank
7933
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eine ewige
Definition [1] Nominativ Singular Femininum des unbestimmten Artikels ein Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs ewig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set eine and ewige apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
eine
5 ch
ewige

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

eine and ewige form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7933, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eine is recorded at frequency rank #19, classified as adet, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nə]. ewige is at rank #7,914, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːvɪɡə].

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 7933, this pair ranks #1,986,277 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

eine#19
ewige#7,914

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eine" and "ewige" be used interchangeably?
No, "eine" and "ewige" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering eine vs ewige

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “eine”; for an adjective, it's “ewige”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “eine” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list