Which to use
“einer” is a determiner and “eisern” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #51
- “einer” frequency rank
- #43,835
- “eisern” frequency rank
- 43886
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | einer | eisern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | [1] Genitiv Singular Femininum des unbestimmten Artikels ein | aus dem Metall Eisen bestehend |
Where the eye mixes einer and eisern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses einer with eisern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: einer is [ˈaɪ̯nɐ] while eisern is [ˈaɪ̯zɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
einer is recorded at frequency rank #51, classified as adet, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nɐ]. eisern is at rank #43,835, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯zɐn].
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 43886, this pair ranks #1,403,822 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of einer vs eisern
Shared letters: einr. Private to "einer": -. Private to "eisern": s.
"einer" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC · "eisern" · 6 letters · shape VVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "einer" and "eisern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "einer" or "eisern" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "einer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "eisern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,403,822 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "einer" and "eisern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eisern vs eiserner". 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 #1,403,822 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.