Hello 
I was wondering if someone could help me with the main difference between these two. I’m getting confuse to know how to say I put something into something or just to put in. They are really similar for me 
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It’s not that complicated:
- “etwas einlegen” means “to insert” or “to lay in”
- “jemanden reinlegen” means “to take someone in” or “to play a trick on someone” --> Germans do that often at April 1st
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Thank you very much 
. Not as complicated as I though 
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As @SKrausser pointed out, “einlegen” would be more in the direction of “to insert” (e.g., a DVD into a DVD player). As for your question about how to say “to put sth into sth”, I’d suggest “etwas in etwas hineinlegen”
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Thank you, @ameliea 
. I have another question 
Can you say "Ich einlege die Käse in Kühlschrank? oder nur “Ich einlege die Käse in Kühlschrank?”
@27sp.sandra As mentioned before, “einlegen” is a rather specific term. In the Kühlschrank-scenario, you’d use either “hineinlegen” or just “legen”. I.e., “Ich lege Käse in den Kühlschrank [hinein]”
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Again @27sp.sandra: I actually just thought about other meanings of the verbs in your original question. So maybe just as a quick summary:
Einlegen
Meanings:
a) to insert
b) to marinate (e.g., meat for Barbecues)
c) to preserve/pickle fruit/vegetables
Examples (present/past):
a) Ich lege die CD in den CD-Player ein. / Ich habe die CD in den CD-Player eingelegt.
b) Ich lege das Fleisch in Knoblauchöl ein. / Ich habe das Fleisch in Knoblauchöl eingelegt.
c) Ich lege die Gurken in Essig ein. / Ich habe die Gurken in Essig eingelegt.
reinlegen
Meaning:
To cheat someone / to play a trick on someone
Example:
Ich lege meinen Freund rein. / Ich habe meinen Freund reingelegt.
hineinlegen
Meaning:
To put something into something
Example:
Ich lege den Käse in den Kühlschrank hinein. / Ich habe den Käse in den Kühlschrank hinein gelegt.
legen [in/auf/unter/neben]
Meaning:
To put / to place [something in/on/under/next to]
Example:
Ich lege den Käse in den Kühlschrank. / Ich habe den Käse in den Kühlschrank gelegt.
Hope this helps!
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Awesome, Thank you very much! Yes it helps a lot.
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Another small addition to -einlegen-. We also often say “Ich lege eine Pause ein.” That means - I take a break.
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And another small addition to “reinlegen” – just to make it a little more confusing : you might hear people use “rein” in spoken German as a replacement for “hinein”, i.e. “Ich hab den Käse in den Kühlschrank reingelegt” 
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Thank you! It is not that confusing, no worries . I have a question is it like that in all the regions?
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Good question @27sp.sandra! I’d say it varies, this might be more common the more South you go
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Definitely right! In Southern Germany that’s very common!
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@SKrausser we say ‘‘nei’’ instead of ‘‘rein’’.
- Mir hewwe euch neiglegt. - Wir haben euch reingelegt.
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Hab auch ich schon wieder was gelernt! 
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