labervsLederTell them apart

Quick tell: laber is a verb, Leder is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“laber” is a verb and “Leder” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,469
“laber” frequency rank
#5,864
“Leder” frequency rank
42333
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laber Leder
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs labern Material aus gegerbter Tierhaut

Where the eye mixes laber and Leder

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
laber
5 ch
Leder

Why the eye confuses laber with Leder

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: laber is [ˈlaːbɐ] while Leder is [ˈleːdɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42333, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laber is recorded at frequency rank #36,469, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlaːbɐ]. Leder is at rank #5,864, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːdɐ].

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 42333, this pair ranks #1,452,608 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of laber vs Leder

Shared letters: elr. Private to "laber": ab. Private to "Leder": d.

"laber" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Leder" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • laberalber · labber · laberr · labre · laebr · lbaer · llaber
  • Lederldeer · ledder · lederr · ledre · leedr · lleder

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laber" and "Leder" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "laber" is a verb and "Leder" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "laber" or "Leder" show up more?
"Leder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,864 in our German list, against #36,469 for "laber". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "laber" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,452,608 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "laber" and "Leder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laber vs Lasern". 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 #1,452,608 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list