Which to use
“Blei” is a noun and “breit” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,614
- “Blei” frequency rank
- #2,332
- “breit” frequency rank
- 13946
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Blei | breit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | silbernes, leicht verformbares, toxisch wirkendes Metall | horizontal seitlich ausgedehnt (in Links-Rechts-Richtung) |
Where the eye mixes Blei and breit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Blei and breit
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Blei is [blaɪ̯] while breit is [bʁaɪ̯t]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13946, 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]. breit is at rank #2,332, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bʁaɪ̯t].
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 13946, this pair ranks #1,954,594 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Blei vs breit
Shared letters: bei. Private to "Blei": l. Private to "breit": rt.
"Blei" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "breit" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Blei" for "breit" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Blei" or "breit" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Blei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "breit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,954,594 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Blei" and "breit" 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 #1,954,594 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.