einfahrenvseingefahrenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,547
“einfahren” frequency rank
#24,310
“eingefahren” frequency rank
43857
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einfahren eingefahren
Definition mit einem Fortbewegungsmittel in eine Sache/in einen Ort hineinfahren Partizip Perfekt des Verbs einfahren

Where the eye mixes einfahren and eingefahren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. einfahren runs 9 letters (VVCCVCCVC) against eingefahren's 11 (VVCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
einfahren
11 ch
eingefahren

Why the eye confuses einfahren with eingefahren

A purely visual mix-up. einfahren ([ˈaɪ̯nˌfaːʁən]) and eingefahren ([ˈaɪ̯nɡəˌfaːʁən]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einfahren is recorded at frequency rank #19,547, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌfaːʁən]. eingefahren is at rank #24,310, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nɡəˌfaːʁən].

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 43857, this pair ranks #1,404,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of einfahren vs eingefahren

Shared letters: aefhinr. Private to "einfahren": -. Private to "eingefahren": g.

"einfahren" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "eingefahren" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einfahren ← eifnahren · einafhren · einfahern · einfahhren · einfahrenn · einfahrne · einfahrren · einfarhen
  • eingefahren ← eignefahren · einegfahren · eingeafhren · eingefahern · eingefahhren · eingefahrenn · eingefahrne · eingefahrren

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "einfahren" and "eingefahren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌfaːʁən] versus [ˈaɪ̯nɡəˌfaːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "einfahren" or "eingefahren"?
"einfahren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,547 in our German list, against #24,310 for "eingefahren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "einfahren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eingefahren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,404,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einfahren" and "eingefahren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einfahren vs einkehren". 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 #1,404,713 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