einnehmenvsentnehmenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,916
“einnehmen” frequency rank
#7,310
“entnehmen” frequency rank
14226
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einnehmen entnehmen
Definition eine Befestigung erobern etwas herausnehmen aus etwas

Where the eye mixes einnehmen and entnehmen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. einnehmen (VVCCVCCVC) and entnehmen (VCCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
einnehmen
9 ch
entnehmen

Why the eye confuses einnehmen with entnehmen

A purely visual mix-up. einnehmen ([ˈaɪ̯nˌneːmən]) and entnehmen ([ɛntˈneːmən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14226, 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]. entnehmen is at rank #7,310, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛntˈneːmən].

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 14226, this pair ranks #1,952,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of einnehmen vs entnehmen

Shared letters: ehmn. Private to "einnehmen": i. Private to "entnehmen": t.

"einnehmen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "entnehmen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einnehmen ← einehmen · einenhmen · einnehemn · einnehhmen · einnehmenn · einnehmmen · einnehmne · einnemhen
  • entnehmen ← enntehmen · enntnehmen · entenhmen · entnehemn · entnehhmen · entnehmenn · entnehmmen · entnehmne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "einnehmen" and "entnehmen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌneːmən] versus [ɛntˈneːmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "einnehmen" vs "entnehmen" - which ranks higher?
"einnehmen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,916 in our German list, against #7,310 for "entnehmen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "einnehmen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "entnehmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,952,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einnehmen" and "entnehmen" 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 #1,952,702 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