Which to use
“Blei” is a noun and “blieb” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,614
- “Blei” frequency rank
- #987
- “blieb” frequency rank
- 12601
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Blei | blieb |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | silbernes, leicht verformbares, toxisch wirkendes Metall | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bleiben |
Where the eye mixes Blei and blieb
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Blei with blieb
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Blei is [blaɪ̯] while blieb is [bliːp]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Blei is recorded at frequency rank #11,614, classified as anoun, pronounced [blaɪ̯]. blieb is at rank #987, tagged as averb, pronounced [bliːp].
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 12601, this pair ranks #1,963,197 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Blei vs blieb
Shared letters: beil. Private to "Blei": -. Private to "blieb": -.
"Blei" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "blieb" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Blei" and "blieb" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Blei" or "blieb" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Blei" and "blieb" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Blei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "blieb" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,963,197 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Blei" and "blieb" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Blei vs bleu". 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 #1,963,197 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.