einhervserinnerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: einher is a adverb, erinner is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“einher” is an adverb and “erinner” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,696
“einher” frequency rank
#34,074
“erinner” frequency rank
46770
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einher erinner
Definition herein 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erinnern

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set einher and erinner apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
einher
7 ch
erinner

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: einher is [aɪ̯nˈheːɐ̯] while erinner is [ɛɐ̯ˈʔɪnɐ]. 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 (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46770, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einher is recorded at frequency rank #12,696, classified as anadv, pronounced [aɪ̯nˈheːɐ̯]. erinner is at rank #34,074, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʔɪnɐ].

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 46770, this pair ranks #1,307,628 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of einher vs erinner

Shared letters: einr. Private to "einher": h. Private to "erinner": -.

"einher" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC  ·  "erinner" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einhereihner · einehr · einherr · einhher · einhre · einnher · eniher · ienher
  • erinnereirnner · erinenr · erinnerr · erinnre · erniner · errinner

Frequency comparison

einher#12,696
erinner#34,074

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "einher" and "erinner" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "einher" is an adverb and "erinner" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "einher" or "erinner"?
"einher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,696 in our German list, against #34,074 for "erinner". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering einher vs erinner

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “einher”; for a verb, it's “erinner”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “einher” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list