einzigevseinzigenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#564
“einzige” frequency rank
#1,765
“einzigen” frequency rank
2329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einzige einzigen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs einzig Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs einzig

Where the eye mixes einzige and einzigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
einzige
8 ch
einzigen

Why the eye confuses einzige with einzigen

A purely visual mix-up. einzige ([ˈaɪ̯nt͡sɪɡə]) and einzigen ([ˈaɪ̯nt͡sɪɡŋ̩]) 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) - “einzige” sits inside “einzigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einzige is recorded at frequency rank #564, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nt͡sɪɡə]. einzigen is at rank #1,765, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nt͡sɪɡŋ̩].

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 2329, this pair ranks #2,002,598 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of einzige vs einzigen

Shared letters: eginz. Private to "einzige": -. Private to "einzigen": -.

"einzige" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCV  ·  "einzigen" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einzigeeinizge · einnzige · einzgie · einzieg · einzigge · einzzige · eiznige · enizige
  • einzigeneinizgen · einnzigen · einzgien · einziegn · einzigenn · einziggen · einzigne · einzzigen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "einzige" and "einzigen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nt͡sɪɡə] versus [ˈaɪ̯nt͡sɪɡŋ̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "einzige" or "einzigen"?
"einzige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #564 in our German list, against #1,765 for "einzigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "einzige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "einzigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,002,598 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einzige" and "einzigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einzige vs einzog". 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 #2,002,598 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