Deutsch homophones
leaf/lief
"leaf" is a noun; "lief" is a verb - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #38 of 483 German groups.
Data vintage
Grammar picks the spelling
Same sound, different grammar: "leaf" arrives as a noun, while "lief" is a verb. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- No shared spelling stem: "leaf" is 4 letters, "lief" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across leaf, lief: efl. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
leaf
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory aefl · private a
lief
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory efil · private i
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "leaf" when you mean: Blumenblatt, Blatt
- Write "lief" when you mean: 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs laufen
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.