leakvsLeidWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#38,874
“leak” frequency rank
#1,263
“Leid” frequency rank
40137
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leak Leid
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leaken starker Kummer, starker psychischer oder seelischer Schmerz

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leak and Leid apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
leak
4 ch
Leid

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leak is [liːk] while Leid is [laɪ̯t]. 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 40137, 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]. Leid is at rank #1,263, tagged as anoun, pronounced [laɪ̯t].

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 40137, this pair ranks #1,517,059 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leak vs Leid

Shared letters: el. Private to "leak": ak. Private to "Leid": di.

"leak" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Leid" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leakelak · leakk · leka · lleak
  • Leidelid · ledi · leidd · lleid

Frequency comparison

leak#38,874
Leid#1,263

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leak" and "Leid" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leak" is a verb and "Leid" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leak" or "Leid"?
"Leid" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,263 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.

Remembering leak vs Leid

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “leak”; for a noun, it's “Leid”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leak” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list