läutenvsleitenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“läuten” and “leiten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,685
“läuten” frequency rank
#5,101
“leiten” frequency rank
26786
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature läuten leiten
Definition Geräusche durch das Bewegen einer Glocke hervorrufen die Führung ausüben

Where the eye mixes läuten and leiten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
läuten
6 ch
leiten

Visual trap between läuten and leiten

A purely visual mix-up. läuten ([ˈlɔɪ̯tn̩]) and leiten ([ˈlaɪ̯tn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

läuten is recorded at frequency rank #21,685, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯tn̩]. leiten is at rank #5,101, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tn̩].

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 26786, this pair ranks #1,812,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of läuten vs leiten

Shared letters: elnt. Private to "läuten": . Private to "leiten": i.

"läuten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "leiten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leitenleietn · leitenn · leitne · leitten · letien · lieten · lleiten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "läuten" and "leiten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɔɪ̯tn̩] versus [ˈlaɪ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "läuten" vs "leiten" - which ranks higher?
"leiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,101 in our German list, against #21,685 for "läuten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "läuten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,812,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "läuten" and "leiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Laatzen vs läuten". 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 #1,812,405 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