Which to use
“Leben” is a noun and “lebst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #132
- “Leben” frequency rank
- #9,057
- “lebst” frequency rank
- 9189
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Leben | lebst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Inbegriff alles Organischen, basierend auf Stoffwechsel, Vermehrung und Wachstum | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leben |
Where the eye mixes Leben and lebst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Leben and lebst
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Leben is [ˈleːbn̩] while lebst is [leːpst]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Leben is recorded at frequency rank #132, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːbn̩]. lebst is at rank #9,057, tagged as averb, pronounced [leːpst].
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 9189, this pair ranks #1,981,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Leben vs lebst
Shared letters: bel. Private to "Leben": n. Private to "lebst": st.
"Leben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lebst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Leben" and "lebst" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Leben" vs "lebst" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Leben" and "lebst" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Leben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lebst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,981,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Leben" and "lebst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lebst vs Lees". 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 #1,981,056 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.