leakvslebtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,874
“leak” frequency rank
#1,136
“lebt” frequency rank
40010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leak lebt
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leaken 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leben

Where the eye mixes leak and lebt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. leak (CVVC) and lebt (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
leak
4 ch
lebt

Look-alike desk: leak vs lebt

A purely visual mix-up. leak ([liːk]) and lebt ([leːpt]) 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 40010, 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]. lebt is at rank #1,136, tagged as averb, pronounced [leːpt].

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 40010, this pair ranks #1,520,576 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leak vs lebt

Shared letters: el. Private to "leak": ak. Private to "lebt": bt.

"leak" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "lebt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leak ← elak · leakk · leka · lleak
  • lebt ← elbt · lbet · lebbt · lebtt · letb · llebt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "leak" and "lebt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([liːk] versus [leːpt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "leak" or "lebt" show up more?
"lebt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,136 in our German list, against #38,874 for "leak". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "leak" and "lebt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "leak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lebt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,520,576 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leak" and "lebt" 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 #1,520,576 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