einevseinerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: eine is a article, einer is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eine” is an article and “einer” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,798
“eine” frequency rank
#48,484
“einer” frequency rank
81282
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eine einer
Definition Féminin (accusatif ou nominatif) de ein. Génitif féminin singulier de la déclinaison forte de ein.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set eine and einer apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
eine
5 ch
einer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eine is \ˈaɪ̯.nə\ while einer is \ˈaɪ̯nɐ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “eine” sits inside “einer”, and the parts of speech differ too (article vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eine is recorded at frequency rank #32,798, classified as anarticle, pronounced \ˈaɪ̯.nə\. einer is at rank #48,484, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈaɪ̯nɐ\.

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 81282, this pair ranks #19,089 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of eine vs einer

Shared letters: ein. Private to "eine": -. Private to "einer": r.

"eine" · 4 letters · shape VVCV  ·  "einer" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eineeien · einne · enie · iene
  • einereienr · einerr · einner · einre · enier · iener

Frequency comparison

eine#32,798
einer#48,484

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eine" and "einer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eine" is an article and "einer" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eine" or "einer"?
"eine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,798 in our French list, against #48,484 for "einer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering eine vs einer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an article, it's “eine”; for an adjective, it's “einer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “eine” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list