lamevslegeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#49,857
“lame” frequency rank
#6,322
“lege” frequency rank
56179
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lame lege
Definition dünne Platte, dünne Schicht, Klinge 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs legen

Where the eye mixes lame and lege

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lame
4 ch
lege

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lame is [lam] while lege is [ˈleːɡə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56179, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lame is recorded at frequency rank #49,857, classified as anoun, pronounced [lam]. lege is at rank #6,322, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːɡə].

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 56179, this pair ranks #950,327 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lame vs lege

Shared letters: el. Private to "lame": am. Private to "lege": g.

"lame" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lege" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lamealme · laem · lamme · llame · lmae
  • legeelge · leeg · legge · lgee · llege

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lame" and "lege" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lame" is a noun and "lege" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lame" or "lege"?
"lege" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,322 in our German list, against #49,857 for "lame". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list