lebendevsleidendeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,690
“lebende” frequency rank
#45,421
“leidende” frequency rank
52111
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lebende leidende
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs lebend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs leidend

Where the eye mixes lebende and leidende

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. lebende runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against leidende's 8 (CVVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
lebende
8 ch
leidende

Look-alike desk: lebende vs leidende

A purely visual mix-up. lebende ([ˈleːbn̩də]) and leidende ([ˈlaɪ̯dn̩də]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52111, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lebende is recorded at frequency rank #6,690, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːbn̩də]. leidende is at rank #45,421, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯dn̩də].

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 52111, this pair ranks #1,109,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lebende vs leidende

Shared letters: deln. Private to "lebende": b. Private to "leidende": i.

"lebende" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "leidende" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lebende ← elbende · lbeende · lebbende · lebedne · lebendde · lebened · lebennde · lebnede
  • leidende ← elidende · lediende · leiddende · leidedne · leidendde · leidened · leidennde · leidnede

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lebende" for "leidende" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleːbn̩də] versus [ˈlaɪ̯dn̩də]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lebende" or "leidende"?
"lebende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,690 in our German list, against #45,421 for "leidende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lebende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leidende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,109,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lebende" and "leidende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leidende vs Leidens". 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 #1,109,557 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