Which to use
“indem” is a conjunction and “indes” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #931
- “indem” frequency rank
- #7,194
- “indes” frequency rank
- 8125
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | indem | indes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nebensatzeinleitende Konjunktion (= Subjunktion), die das Mittel ausdrückt, das zum Erreichen eines Zwecks eingesetzt wird | jedoch, hingegen, aber, allerdings, andererseits, hinwiederum, unabhängig davon, trotz dessen, trotzdem, indessen |
Where the eye mixes indem and indes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses indem with indes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: indem is [ɪnˈdeːm] while indes is [ɪnˈdɛs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “indem” becomes s in “indes”, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8125, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
indem is recorded at frequency rank #931, classified as aconj, pronounced [ɪnˈdeːm]. indes is at rank #7,194, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ɪnˈdɛs].
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 8125, this pair ranks #1,985,540 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of indem vs indes
Shared letters: dein. Private to "indem": m. Private to "indes": s.
"indem" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "indes" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "indem" and "indes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "indem" or "indes"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "indem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "indes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,985,540 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "indem" and "indes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ideas vs indes". 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 #1,985,540 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.