einzugehenvseinzulegenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,179
“einzugehen” frequency rank
#30,526
“einzulegen” frequency rank
39705
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature einzugehen einzulegen
Definition erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs eingehen erweiterter Infinitiv Aktiv des Verbs einlegen

Where the eye mixes einzugehen and einzulegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. einzugehen and einzulegen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
einzugehen
10 ch
einzulegen

Why the eye confuses einzugehen with einzulegen

A purely visual mix-up. einzugehen ([ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌɡeːən]) and einzulegen ([ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌleːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

einzugehen is recorded at frequency rank #9,179, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌɡeːən]. einzulegen is at rank #30,526, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌleːɡn̩].

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 39705, this pair ranks #1,529,257 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of einzugehen vs einzulegen

Shared letters: eginuz. Private to "einzugehen": h. Private to "einzulegen": l.

"einzugehen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC  ·  "einzulegen" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • einzugehen ← einnzugehen · einuzgehen · einzguehen · einzueghen · einzugeehn · einzugehenn · einzugehhen · einzugehne
  • einzulegen ← einnzulegen · einuzlegen · einzluegen · einzuelgen · einzuleegn · einzulegenn · einzuleggen · einzulegne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "einzugehen" and "einzulegen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌɡeːən] versus [ˈaɪ̯nt͡suˌleːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "einzugehen" vs "einzulegen" - which ranks higher?
"einzugehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,179 in our German list, against #30,526 for "einzulegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "einzugehen" and "einzulegen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "einzugehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "einzulegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,529,257 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "einzugehen" and "einzulegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einzulegen vs einzureden". 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 #1,529,257 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