ladvsLeuWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#24,418
“lad” frequency rank
#42,653
“Leu” frequency rank
67071
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lad Leu
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs laden Löwe

Where the eye mixes lad and Leu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
lad
3 ch
Leu

Why the eye confuses lad with Leu

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lad is [laːt] while Leu is [lɔɪ̯]. 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 67071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lad is recorded at frequency rank #24,418, classified as averb, pronounced [laːt]. Leu is at rank #42,653, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɔɪ̯].

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 67071, this pair ranks #552,212 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lad vs Leu

Shared letters: l. Private to "lad": ad. Private to "Leu": eu.

"lad" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Leu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lad" for "Leu" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lad" is a verb and "Leu" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "lad" vs "Leu" - which ranks higher?
"lad" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,418 in our German list, against #42,653 for "Leu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #552,212 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lad" and "Leu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs Leu". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #552,212 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