labervslegerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: laber is a verb, leger is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#36,469
“laber” frequency rank
#46,108
“leger” frequency rank
82577
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laber leger
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs labern leicht, bequem (meist in Zusammenhang mit Kleidung)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set laber and leger apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
laber
5 ch
leger

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: laber is [ˈlaːbɐ] while leger is [leˈʒɛːɐ̯]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82577, 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]. leger is at rank #46,108, tagged as anadj, pronounced [leˈʒɛːɐ̯].

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 82577, this pair ranks #154,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of laber vs leger

Shared letters: elr. Private to "laber": ab. Private to "leger": g.

"laber" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "leger" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • laberalber · labber · laberr · labre · laebr · lbaer · llaber
  • legerelger · leegr · legerr · legger · legre · lgeer · lleger

Frequency comparison

laber#36,469
leger#46,108

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laber" and "leger" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "laber" is a verb and "leger" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "laber" or "leger"?
"laber" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,469 in our German list, against #46,108 for "leger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering laber vs leger

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “laber”; for an adjective, it's “leger”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “laber” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list