Which to use
“leak” and “leave” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,874
- “leak” frequency rank
- #25,643
- “leave” frequency rank
- 64517
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leak | leave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leaken | von einem Ort weggehen; verlassen |
Where the eye mixes leak and leave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. leak runs 4 letters (CVVC) against leave's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses leak with leave
A purely visual mix-up. leak ([liːk]) and leave ([liːv]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64517, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leak is recorded at frequency rank #38,874, classified as averb, pronounced [liːk]. leave is at rank #25,643, tagged as averb, pronounced [liːv].
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 64517, this pair ranks #638,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leak vs leave
Shared letters: ael. Private to "leak": k. Private to "leave": v.
"leak" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "leave" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leak" and "leave" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "leak" or "leave" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "leak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #638,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leak" and "leave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leak vs Lees". 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 #638,740 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.