einlegenvseinzulegenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,636
“einlegen” frequency rank
#30,526
“einzulegen” frequency rank
42162
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einlegen einzulegen
Definition etwas in einen dafür vorgesehenen Hohlraum legen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs einlegen

Where the eye mixes einlegen and einzulegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. einlegen runs 8 letters (VVCCVCVC) against einzulegen's 10 (VVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
einlegen
10 ch
einzulegen

Look-alike desk: einlegen vs einzulegen

A purely visual mix-up. einlegen ([ˈaɪ̯nˌleːɡn̩]) and einzulegen ([ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌleːɡn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42162, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einlegen is recorded at frequency rank #11,636, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌleːɡn̩]. einzulegen is at rank #30,526, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌleːɡn̩].

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 42162, this pair ranks #1,457,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of einlegen vs einzulegen

Shared letters: egiln. Private to "einlegen": -. Private to "einzulegen": uz.

"einlegen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC  ·  "einzulegen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einlegen ← eilnegen · einelgen · einleegn · einlegenn · einleggen · einlegne · einlgeen · einllegen
  • einzulegen ← einnzulegen · einuzlegen · einzluegen · einzuelgen · einzuleegn · einzulegenn · einzuleggen · einzulegne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "einlegen" for "einzulegen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌleːɡn̩] versus [ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌleːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "einlegen" or "einzulegen"?
"einlegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,636 in our German list, against #30,526 for "einzulegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "einlegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "einzulegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,457,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einlegen" and "einzulegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einzulegen vs einzureden". 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 #1,457,724 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