einervseinesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#51
“einer” frequency rank
#118
“eines” frequency rank
169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einer eines
Definition [1] Genitiv Singular Femininum des unbestimmten Artikels ein [1] unbestimmter Artikel des Maskulinums im Genitiv

Where the eye mixes einer and eines

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

5 ch
einer
5 ch
eines

Why the eye confuses einer with eines

A purely visual mix-up. einer ([ˈaɪ̯nɐ]) and eines ([ˈaɪ̯nəs]) 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 - r in “einer” becomes s in “eines”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einer is recorded at frequency rank #51, classified as adet, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nɐ]. eines is at rank #118, tagged as adet, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nəs].

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 169, this pair ranks #2,006,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of einer vs eines

Shared letters: ein. Private to "einer": r. Private to "eines": s.

"einer" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC  ·  "eines" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einereienr · einerr · einner · einre · enier · iener
  • eineseiens · einess · einnes · einse · enies · ienes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "einer" for "eines" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nɐ] versus [ˈaɪ̯nəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "einer" or "eines"?
"einer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #51 in our German list, against #118 for "eines". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "einer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eines" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,006,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einer" and "eines" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einer vs Euter". 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 #2,006,200 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