eingefangenvseinzufangenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,967
“eingefangen” frequency rank
#23,906
“einzufangen” frequency rank
40873
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eingefangen einzufangen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs einfangen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs einfangen

Where the eye mixes eingefangen and einzufangen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. eingefangen and einzufangen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
eingefangen
11 ch
einzufangen

Visual trap between eingefangen and einzufangen

A purely visual mix-up. eingefangen ([ˈaɪ̯nɡəˌfaŋən]) and einzufangen ([ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌfaŋən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eingefangen is recorded at frequency rank #16,967, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nɡəˌfaŋən]. einzufangen is at rank #23,906, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌfaŋən].

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 40873, this pair ranks #1,495,885 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of eingefangen vs einzufangen

Shared letters: aefgin. Private to "eingefangen": -. Private to "einzufangen": uz.

"eingefangen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCVC  ·  "einzufangen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eingefangen ← eignefangen · einegfangen · eingeafngen · eingefagnen · eingefanegn · eingefangenn · eingefanggen · eingefangne
  • einzufangen ← einnzufangen · einuzfangen · einzfuangen · einzuafngen · einzufagnen · einzufanegn · einzufangenn · einzufanggen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "eingefangen" for "einzufangen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nɡəˌfaŋən] versus [ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌfaŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "eingefangen" vs "einzufangen" - which ranks higher?
"eingefangen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,967 in our German list, against #23,906 for "einzufangen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "eingefangen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "einzufangen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,495,885 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eingefangen" and "einzufangen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einzufangen vs einzufügen". 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 #1,495,885 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