einenvsendenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46
“einen” frequency rank
#3,242
“enden” frequency rank
3288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einen enden
Definition zur Gemeinsamkeit führen aufhören, am Ende sein, zu Ende kommen

Where the eye mixes einen and enden

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

5 ch
einen
5 ch
enden

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. einen ([ˈaɪ̯nən]) and enden ([ˈɛndn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einen is recorded at frequency rank #46, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nən]. enden is at rank #3,242, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɛndn̩].

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 3288, this pair ranks #2,000,529 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of einen vs enden

Shared letters: en. Private to "einen": i. Private to "enden": d.

"einen" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC  ·  "enden" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eineneienn · einenn · einnen · enien · ienen
  • endenendden · endenn · endne · enedn · ennden · neden

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "einen" and "enden" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nən] versus [ˈɛndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "einen" or "enden"?
"einen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #46 in our German list, against #3,242 for "enden". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list