einsamvseinsameWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,458
“einsam” frequency rank
#13,346
“einsame” frequency rank
20804
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einsam einsame
Definition ohne Gesellschaft, ohne Kontakt zu anderen Menschen oder der Umwelt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs einsam

Where the eye mixes einsam and einsame

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. einsam runs 6 letters (VVCCVC) against einsame's 7 (VVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
einsam
7 ch
einsame

Visual trap between einsam and einsame

A purely visual mix-up. einsam ([ˈaɪ̯nzaːm]) and einsame ([ˈaɪ̯nzaːmə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “einsam” sits inside “einsame”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einsam is recorded at frequency rank #7,458, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nzaːm]. einsame is at rank #13,346, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nzaːmə].

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 20804, this pair ranks #1,893,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of einsam vs einsame

Shared letters: aeimns. Private to "einsam": -. Private to "einsame": -.

"einsam" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC  ·  "einsame" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einsam ← einasm · einnsam · einsamm · einsma · einssam · eisnam · enisam · iensam
  • einsame ← einasme · einnsame · einsaem · einsamme · einsmae · einssame · eisname · enisame

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "einsam" for "einsame" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nzaːm] versus [ˈaɪ̯nzaːmə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "einsam" or "einsame"?
"einsam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,458 in our German list, against #13,346 for "einsame". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "einsam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "einsame" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,893,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einsam" and "einsame" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einnahm vs einsam". 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 #1,893,557 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