ElendvsevenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Elend is a noun, even is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Elend” is a noun and “even” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,599
“Elend” frequency rank
#18,532
“even” frequency rank
26131
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Elend even
Definition das Land außerhalb der eigenen Heimat, die Fremde, das Wohnen in der Fremde, das Wohnen im Ausland eben, ausgeglichen

Letter map: Elend vs even

Shared letters muted; letters that set Elend and even apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
Elend
4 ch
even

Grammar separator: Elend vs even

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Elend is anoun and evenanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Elend is recorded at frequency rank #7,599, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈeːlɛnt]. even is at rank #18,532, tagged as anadj, pronounced […].

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 26131, this pair ranks #1,822,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Elend vs even

Shared letters: en. Private to "Elend": dl. Private to "even": v.

"Elend" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "even" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Elendeelnd · eledn · elendd · elennd · ellend · elned · leend
  • eveneevn · evenn · evne · evven · veen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Elend" for "even" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Elend" is a noun and "even" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Elend" vs "even" - which ranks higher?
"Elend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,599 in our German list, against #18,532 for "even". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "Elend" vs "even" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Elend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "even" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,822,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Elend" and "even" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "even vs puzzles". 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 #1,822,682 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