einfachvseinfachenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#110
“einfach” frequency rank
#2,887
“einfachen” frequency rank
2997
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einfach einfachen
Definition nicht schwierig Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs einfach

Where the eye mixes einfach and einfachen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
einfach
9 ch
einfachen

Visual trap between einfach and einfachen

A purely visual mix-up. einfach ([ˈaɪ̯nfax]) and einfachen ([ˈaɪ̯nfaxn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “einfach” sits inside “einfachen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einfach is recorded at frequency rank #110, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nfax]. einfachen is at rank #2,887, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nfaxn̩].

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 2997, this pair ranks #2,001,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of einfach vs einfachen

Shared letters: acefhin. Private to "einfach": -. Private to "einfachen": -.

"einfach" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC  ·  "einfachen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einfacheifnach · einafch · einfacch · einfachh · einfahc · einfcah · einffach · einnfach
  • einfacheneifnachen · einafchen · einfacchen · einfacehn · einfachenn · einfachhen · einfachne · einfahcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "einfach" and "einfachen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nfax] versus [ˈaɪ̯nfaxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "einfach" or "einfachen"?
"einfach" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #110 in our German list, against #2,887 for "einfachen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "einfach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "einfachen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einfach" and "einfachen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einfachem vs einfachen". 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 #2,001,172 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