Which to use
“eint” is a verb and “erst” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,734
- “eint” frequency rank
- #159
- “erst” frequency rank
- 35893
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eint | erst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs einen | zuvor, vorher |
Where the eye mixes eint and erst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. eint (VVCC) and erst (VCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between eint and erst
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eint is [aɪ̯nt] while erst is [eːɐ̯st]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35893, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eint is recorded at frequency rank #35,734, classified as averb, pronounced [aɪ̯nt]. erst is at rank #159, tagged as anadv, pronounced [eːɐ̯st].
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 35893, this pair ranks #1,628,989 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of eint vs erst
Shared letters: et. Private to "eint": in. Private to "erst": rs.
"eint" · 4 letters · shape VVCC · "erst" · 4 letters · shape VCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "eint" for "erst" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "eint" or "erst" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "eint" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,628,989 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eint" and "erst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "EBIT vs eint". 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 #1,628,989 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.