lebevslireWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,905
“lebe” frequency rank
#38,882
“lire” frequency rank
41787
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lebe lire
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leben Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte wahrnehmen, verarbeiten und verstehen

Where the eye mixes lebe and lire

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

4 ch
lebe
4 ch
lire

Visual trap between lebe and lire

A purely visual mix-up. lebe ([ˈleːbə]) and lire ([liʁ]) 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 41787, 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]. lire is at rank #38,882, tagged as averb, pronounced [liʁ].

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 41787, this pair ranks #1,469,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lebe vs lire

Shared letters: el. Private to "lebe": b. Private to "lire": ir.

"lebe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lebelbee · lebbe · leeb · llebe
  • lireilre · lier · lirre · llire · lrie

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lebe" and "lire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleːbə] versus [liʁ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lebe" vs "lire" - which ranks higher?
"lebe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,905 in our German list, against #38,882 for "lire". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lebe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,469,077 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lebe" and "lire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs lire". 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 #1,469,077 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