einstellenvseinteilenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,723
“einstellen” frequency rank
#25,523
“einteilen” frequency rank
29246
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einstellen einteilen
Definition jemanden als Arbeitnehmer aufnehmen etwas in mehrere Teile unterteilen

Where the eye mixes einstellen and einteilen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
einstellen
9 ch
einteilen

Visual trap between einstellen and einteilen

A purely visual mix-up. einstellen ([ˈaɪ̯nˌʃtɛlən]) and einteilen ([ˈaɪ̯nˌtaɪ̯lən]) 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 29246, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einstellen is recorded at frequency rank #3,723, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌʃtɛlən]. einteilen is at rank #25,523, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌtaɪ̯lən].

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 29246, this pair ranks #1,770,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of einstellen vs einteilen

Shared letters: eilnt. Private to "einstellen": s. Private to "einteilen": -.

"einstellen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCCVCCVC  ·  "einteilen" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einstelleneinnstellen · einsetllen · einsstellen · einsteleln · einstelen · einstellenn · einstellne · einstlelen
  • einteileneinetilen · einnteilen · einteieln · einteilenn · einteillen · einteilne · eintelien · eintielen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "einstellen" and "einteilen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nˌʃtɛlən] versus [ˈaɪ̯nˌtaɪ̯lən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "einstellen" or "einteilen"?
"einstellen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,723 in our German list, against #25,523 for "einteilen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "einstellen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "einteilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,770,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einstellen" and "einteilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einreihen vs einteilen". 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 #1,770,405 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