Which to use
“lebend” is an adjective and “Liebende” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,617
- “lebend” frequency rank
- #25,650
- “Liebende” frequency rank
- 40267
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lebend | Liebende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht tot; am Leben; lebendig | weibliche Person, die jemanden liebt, also eine starke emotionale Bindung zu jemandem hat |
Where the eye mixes lebend and Liebende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. lebend runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against Liebende's 8 (CVVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lebend and Liebende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lebend is [ˈleːbn̩t] while Liebende is [ˈliːbn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lebend is recorded at frequency rank #14,617, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːbn̩t]. Liebende is at rank #25,650, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈliːbn̩də].
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 40267, this pair ranks #1,513,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lebend vs Liebende
Shared letters: bdeln. Private to "lebend": -. Private to "Liebende": i.
"lebend" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "Liebende" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lebend" for "Liebende" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "lebend" or "Liebende" show up more?
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 "lebend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Liebende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,513,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lebend" and "Liebende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Liebende vs liegender". 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 #1,513,407 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.