leak vs lev, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#38,874
“leak” frequency rank: #33,169
“lev” frequency rank: 72043
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	leak	lev
Definition	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leaken	Lew

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

leak

3 ch

lev

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leak is [liːk] while lev is [lɛv]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72043, 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]. lev is at rank #33,169, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɛv].

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 72043, this pair ranks #399,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of leak vs lev

Shared letters: el. Private to "leak": ak. Private to "lev": v.

"leak" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lev" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

leak ← elak · leakk · leka · lleak

Frequency comparison

leak#38,874

lev#33,169

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leak" and "lev" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leak" is a verb and "lev" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "leak" or "lev"?

"lev" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,169 in our German list, against #38,874 for "leak". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leak vs lev

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 “lev”.
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