einreibenvseintreibenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#44,553
“einreiben” frequency rank
#44,554
“eintreiben” frequency rank
89107
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einreiben eintreiben
Definition eine dünne Schicht von etwas auf eine Oberfläche auftragen und einarbeiten Geld zurückfordern und sich ausbezahlen lassen

Where the eye mixes einreiben and eintreiben

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

9 ch
einreiben
10 ch
eintreiben

Look-alike desk: einreiben vs eintreiben

A purely visual mix-up. einreiben ([ˈaɪ̯nˌʁaɪ̯bn̩]) and eintreiben ([ˈaɪ̯nˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einreiben is recorded at frequency rank #44,553, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌʁaɪ̯bn̩]. eintreiben is at rank #44,554, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩].

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 89107, this pair ranks #60,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of einreiben vs eintreiben

Shared letters: beinr. Private to "einreiben": -. Private to "eintreiben": t.

"einreiben" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC  ·  "eintreiben" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einreibeneineriben · einnreiben · einrebien · einreibben · einreibenn · einreibne · einreiebn · einrieben
  • eintreibeneinntreiben · einrteiben · einteriben · eintrebien · eintreibben · eintreibenn · eintreibne · eintreiebn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "einreiben" and "eintreiben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌʁaɪ̯bn̩] versus [ˈaɪ̯nˌtʁaɪ̯bn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "einreiben" or "eintreiben"?
"einreiben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,553 in our German list, against #44,554 for "eintreiben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "einreiben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eintreiben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #60,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einreiben" and "eintreiben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einreihen vs eintreiben". 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 #60,886 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