lebevsLeosTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#2,905
“lebe” frequency rank
#46,110
“Leos” frequency rank
49015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lebe Leos
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leben Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Leo

Where the eye mixes lebe and Leos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lebe
4 ch
Leos

Why the eye confuses lebe with Leos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lebe is [ˈleːbə] while Leos is [ˈleːos]. 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 49015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lebe is recorded at frequency rank #2,905, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːbə]. Leos is at rank #46,110, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːos].

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 49015, this pair ranks #1,227,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lebe vs Leos

Shared letters: el. Private to "lebe": b. Private to "Leos": os.

"lebe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Leos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lebelbee · lebbe · leeb · llebe
  • Leoselos · leoss · leso · lleos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lebe" for "Leos" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lebe" is a verb and "Leos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lebe" or "Leos"?
"lebe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,905 in our German list, against #46,110 for "Leos". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "lebe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,227,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lebe" and "Leos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs Leos". 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 #1,227,203 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