EinlaufvseinlaufenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Einlauf is a noun, einlaufen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Einlauf” is a noun and “einlaufen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,478
“Einlauf” frequency rank
#34,607
“einlaufen” frequency rank
72085
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Einlauf einlaufen
Definition Methode, bei der eine Flüssigkeit über den After in den Darm eingeleitet wird, um den Enddarm von Kot zu säubern durch Waschen kleiner beziehungsweise enger werden

Where the eye mixes Einlauf and einlaufen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Einlauf runs 7 letters (VVCCVVC) against einlaufen's 9 (VVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Einlauf
9 ch
einlaufen

Visual trap between Einlauf and einlaufen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Einlauf is [ˈaɪ̯nˌlaʊ̯f] while einlaufen is [ˈaɪ̯nˌlaʊ̯fn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Einlauf” sits inside “einlaufen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Einlauf is recorded at frequency rank #37,478, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌlaʊ̯f]. einlaufen is at rank #34,607, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌlaʊ̯fn̩].

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 72085, this pair ranks #398,256 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Einlauf vs einlaufen

Shared letters: aefilnu. Private to "Einlauf": -. Private to "einlaufen": -.

"Einlauf" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC  ·  "einlaufen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Einlauf ← eilnauf · einaluf · einlafu · einlauff · einllauf · einluaf · einnlauf · enilauf
  • einlaufen ← eilnaufen · einalufen · einlafuen · einlauefn · einlaufenn · einlauffen · einlaufne · einllaufen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Einlauf" for "einlaufen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Einlauf" is a noun and "einlaufen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Einlauf" or "einlaufen" show up more?
"einlaufen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,607 in our German list, against #37,478 for "Einlauf". 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 "Einlauf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "einlaufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #398,256 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Einlauf" and "einlaufen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einkauft vs Einlauf". 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 #398,256 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