EinkünftevsEinkünftenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,269
“Einkünfte” frequency rank
#34,606
“Einkünften” frequency rank
46875
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Einkünfte Einkünften
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Einkunft Dativ Plural des Substantivs Einkunft

Where the eye mixes Einkünfte and Einkünften

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Einkünfte runs 9 letters (VVCCVCCCV) against Einkünften's 10 (VVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Einkünfte
10 ch
Einkünften

Why the eye confuses Einkünfte with Einkünften

A purely visual mix-up. Einkünfte ([ˈaɪ̯nˌkʏnftə]) and Einkünften ([ˈaɪ̯nˌkʏnftn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Einkünfte” sits inside “Einkünften”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Einkünfte is recorded at frequency rank #12,269, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌkʏnftə]. Einkünften is at rank #34,606, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌkʏnftn̩].

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 46875, this pair ranks #1,303,935 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Einkünfte vs Einkünften

Shared letters: efikntü. Private to "Einkünfte": -. Private to "Einkünften": -.

"Einkünfte" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCCV  ·  "Einkünften" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Einkünfte" for "Einkünften" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌkʏnftə] versus [ˈaɪ̯nˌkʏnftn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Einkünfte" vs "Einkünften" - which ranks higher?
"Einkünfte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,269 in our German list, against #34,606 for "Einkünften". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Einkünfte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Einkünften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,303,935 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics

Confusion rank #1,303,935 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