EisbärvsEisbärenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#36,906
“Eisbär” frequency rank
#14,790
“Eisbären” frequency rank
51696
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Eisbär Eisbären
Definition Bär mit weißem Fell, lebt in den nördlichen Polargebieten Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Eisbär

Where the eye mixes Eisbär and Eisbären

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Eisbär runs 6 letters (VVCCVC) against Eisbären's 8 (VVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Eisbär
8 ch
Eisbären

Why the eye confuses Eisbär with Eisbären

A purely visual mix-up. Eisbär ([ˈaɪ̯sˌbɛːɐ̯]) and Eisbären ([ˈaɪ̯sˌbɛːʁən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Eisbär” sits inside “Eisbären”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51696, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Eisbär is recorded at frequency rank #36,906, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯sˌbɛːɐ̯]. Eisbären is at rank #14,790, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯sˌbɛːʁən].

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 51696, this pair ranks #1,125,587 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Eisbär vs Eisbären

Shared letters: beirsä. Private to "Eisbär": -. Private to "Eisbären": n.

"Eisbär" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC  ·  "Eisbären" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Eisbär" and "Eisbären" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯sˌbɛːɐ̯] versus [ˈaɪ̯sˌbɛːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Eisbär" vs "Eisbären" - which ranks higher?
"Eisbären" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,790 in our German list, against #36,906 for "Eisbär". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Eisbär" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Eisbären" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,125,587 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Eisbär" and "Eisbären" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Eisbär vs Eisberg". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,125,587 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