EisvseveWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,144
“Eis” frequency rank
#16,139
“eve” frequency rank
18283
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Eis eve
Definition Wasser im festen Aggregatzustand; gefrorenes Wasser die Tageszeit nach dem Nachmittag, die beginnt, wenn die Sonne den Horizont erreicht und endet bei völliger Dunkelheit; dem Abend geht der Tag voran und auf den Abend folgt die Nacht

Where the eye mixes Eis and eve

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
Eis
3 ch
eve

Why the eye confuses Eis with eve

A purely visual mix-up. Eis ([aɪ̯s]) and eve ([iːv]) 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 18283, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Eis is recorded at frequency rank #2,144, classified as anoun, pronounced [aɪ̯s]. eve is at rank #16,139, tagged as anoun, pronounced [iːv].

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 18283, this pair ranks #1,919,698 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Eis vs eve

Shared letters: e. Private to "Eis": is. Private to "eve": v.

"Eis" · 3 letters · shape VVC  ·  "eve" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Eis" and "eve" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aɪ̯s] versus [iːv]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Eis" or "eve"?
"Eis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,144 in our German list, against #16,139 for "eve". 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 "Eis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,919,698 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Eis" and "eve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Erle vs eve". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,919,698 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