EinfallvsEinfälleTell them apart

Which to use

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

#24,307
“Einfall” frequency rank
#37,473
“Einfälle” frequency rank
61780
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Einfall Einfälle
Definition plötzlicher Gedanke Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Einfall

Where the eye mixes Einfall and Einfälle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Einfall
8 ch
Einfälle

Visual trap between Einfall and Einfälle

A purely visual mix-up. Einfall ([ˈaɪ̯nˌfal]) and Einfälle ([ˈaɪ̯nˌfɛlə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Einfall is recorded at frequency rank #24,307, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌfal]. Einfälle is at rank #37,473, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌfɛlə].

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 61780, this pair ranks #736,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Einfall vs Einfälle

Shared letters: efiln. Private to "Einfall": a. Private to "Einfälle": ä.

"Einfall" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC  ·  "Einfälle" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Einfalleifnall · einafll · einfal · einffall · einflal · einnfall · enifall · ienfall

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Einfall" and "Einfälle" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌfal] versus [ˈaɪ̯nˌfɛlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Einfall" or "Einfälle"?
"Einfall" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,307 in our German list, against #37,473 for "Einfälle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Einfall" and "Einfälle" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Einfall" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Einfälle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #736,993 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Einfall" and "Einfälle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Einfall vs einfiel". 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 #736,993 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