Which to use
“leave” and “leihe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,643
- “leave” frequency rank
- #27,394
- “leihe” frequency rank
- 53037
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leave | leihe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von einem Ort weggehen; verlassen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leihen |
Where the eye mixes leave and leihe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. leave and leihe follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between leave and leihe
A purely visual mix-up. leave ([liːv]) and leihe ([ˈlaɪ̯ə]) 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 53037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leave is recorded at frequency rank #25,643, classified as averb, pronounced [liːv]. leihe is at rank #27,394, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯ə].
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 53037, this pair ranks #1,073,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leave vs leihe
Shared letters: el. Private to "leave": av. Private to "leihe": hi.
"leave" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "leihe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leave" and "leihe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "leave" or "leihe"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "leave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leihe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,073,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leave" and "leihe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leibes vs leihe". 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 #1,073,551 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.