einwirkenvsEinwirkungWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: einwirken is a verb, Einwirkung is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“einwirken” is a verb and “Einwirkung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,691
“einwirken” frequency rank
#25,976
“Einwirkung” frequency rank
50667
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einwirken Einwirkung
Definition allmählich seine Wirkung auf etwas entfalten das Erzeugen einer Wirkung, das Herbeiführen einer Veränderung bei jemandem oder etwas

Where the eye mixes einwirken and Einwirkung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. einwirken runs 9 letters (VVCCVCCVC) against Einwirkung's 10 (VVCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
einwirken
10 ch
Einwirkung

Why the eye confuses einwirken with Einwirkung

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: einwirken is [ˈaɪ̯nˌvɪʁkn̩] while Einwirkung is [ˈaɪ̯nˌvɪʁkʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einwirken is recorded at frequency rank #24,691, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌvɪʁkn̩]. Einwirkung is at rank #25,976, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nˌvɪʁkʊŋ].

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 50667, this pair ranks #1,165,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of einwirken vs Einwirkung

Shared letters: eiknrw. Private to "einwirken": -. Private to "Einwirkung": gu.

"einwirken" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC  ·  "Einwirkung" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einwirken ← einiwrken · einnwirken · einwikren · einwirekn · einwirkenn · einwirkken · einwirkne · einwirrken
  • Einwirkung ← einiwrkung · einnwirkung · einwikrung · einwirkkung · einwirknug · einwirkugn · einwirkungg · einwirkunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "einwirken" and "Einwirkung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "einwirken" is a verb and "Einwirkung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "einwirken" or "Einwirkung"?
"einwirken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,691 in our German list, against #25,976 for "Einwirkung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "einwirken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Einwirkung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,165,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einwirken" and "Einwirkung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Einwirkung vs Einwirkungen". 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 #1,165,077 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