einnehmenvseinzunehmenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,916
“einnehmen” frequency rank
#15,610
“einzunehmen” frequency rank
22526
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einnehmen einzunehmen
Definition eine Befestigung erobern erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs einnehmen

Where the eye mixes einnehmen and einzunehmen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
einnehmen
11 ch
einzunehmen

Look-alike desk: einnehmen vs einzunehmen

A purely visual mix-up. einnehmen ([ˈaɪ̯nˌneːmən]) and einzunehmen ([ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌneːmən]) 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 22526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einnehmen is recorded at frequency rank #6,916, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌneːmən]. einzunehmen is at rank #15,610, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌneːmən].

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 22526, this pair ranks #1,873,118 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of einnehmen vs einzunehmen

Shared letters: ehimn. Private to "einnehmen": -. Private to "einzunehmen": uz.

"einnehmen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "einzunehmen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einnehmeneinehmen · einenhmen · einnehemn · einnehhmen · einnehmenn · einnehmmen · einnehmne · einnemhen
  • einzunehmeneinnzunehmen · einuznehmen · einznuehmen · einzuenhmen · einzunehemn · einzunehhmen · einzunehmenn · einzunehmmen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "einnehmen" for "einzunehmen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌneːmən] versus [ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌneːmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "einnehmen" or "einzunehmen" show up more?
"einnehmen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,916 in our German list, against #15,610 for "einzunehmen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "einnehmen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "einzunehmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,873,118 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einnehmen" and "einzunehmen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einkehren vs einnehmen". 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 #1,873,118 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