einschlagenvseinschlägigenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: einschlagen is a verb, einschlägigen is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“einschlagen” is a verb and “einschlägigen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,548
“einschlagen” frequency rank
#13,347
“einschlägigen” frequency rank
27895
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einschlagen einschlägigen
Definition jemandem oder etwas Hiebe versetzen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs einschlägig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set einschlagen and einschlägigen apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
einschlagen
13 ch
einschlägigen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: einschlagen is [ˈaɪ̯nˌʃlaːɡn̩] while einschlägigen is [ˈaɪ̯nʃlɛːɡɪɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einschlagen is recorded at frequency rank #14,548, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌʃlaːɡn̩]. einschlägigen is at rank #13,347, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nʃlɛːɡɪɡn̩].

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 27895, this pair ranks #1,794,038 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of einschlagen vs einschlägigen

Shared letters: ceghilns. Private to "einschlagen": a. Private to "einschlägigen": ä.

"einschlagen" · 11 letters · shape VVCCCCCVCVC  ·  "einschlägigen" · 13 letters · shape VVCCCCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einschlageneincshlagen · einnschlagen · einscchlagen · einschalgen · einschhlagen · einschlaegn · einschlagenn · einschlaggen

Frequency comparison

einschlagen#14,548
einschlägigen#13,347

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "einschlagen" and "einschlägigen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "einschlagen" is a verb and "einschlägigen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "einschlagen" or "einschlägigen"?
"einschlägigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,347 in our German list, against #14,548 for "einschlagen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering einschlagen vs einschlägigen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “einschlagen”; for an adjective, it's “einschlägigen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “einschlagen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list