lebevsLobWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#2,905
“lebe” frequency rank
#4,907
“Lob” frequency rank
7812
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lebe Lob
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leben Anerkennung von Leistungen oder Verhaltensweisen durch sprachliche oder körpersprachliche Ausdrucksmittel

Where the eye mixes lebe and Lob

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

4 ch
lebe
3 ch
Lob

Visual trap between lebe and Lob

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lebe is [ˈleːbə] while Lob is [loːp]. 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 7812, 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]. Lob is at rank #4,907, tagged as anoun, pronounced [loːp].

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 7812, this pair ranks #1,986,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lebe vs Lob

Shared letters: bl. Private to "lebe": e. Private to "Lob": o.

"lebe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Lob" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lebelbee · lebbe · leeb · llebe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lebe" for "Lob" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lebe" is a verb and "Lob" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "lebe" or "Lob" show up more?
"lebe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,905 in our German list, against #4,907 for "Lob". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "lebe" and "Lob" 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 "Lob" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,986,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lebe" and "Lob" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs lebe". 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 #1,986,813 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