lebendesvsLebensTell them apart

Quick tell: lebendes is a adjective, Lebens is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lebendes” is an adjective and “Lebens” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,647
“lebendes” frequency rank
#1,135
“Lebens” frequency rank
38782
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lebendes Lebens
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs lebend Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Leben

Where the eye mixes lebendes and Lebens

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

8 ch
lebendes
6 ch
Lebens

Look-alike desk: lebendes vs Lebens

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lebendes is [ˈleːbn̩dəs] while Lebens is [ˈleːbn̩s]. 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 38782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lebendes is recorded at frequency rank #37,647, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːbn̩dəs]. Lebens is at rank #1,135, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːbn̩s].

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 38782, this pair ranks #1,554,751 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lebendes vs Lebens

Shared letters: belns. Private to "lebendes": d. Private to "Lebens": -.

"lebendes" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "Lebens" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lebendes ← elbendes · lbeendes · lebbendes · lebednes · lebenddes · lebendess · lebendse · lebeneds
  • Lebens ← elbens · lbeens · lebbens · lebenns · lebenss · lebesn · lebnes · leebns

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lebendes" for "Lebens" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lebendes" is an adjective and "Lebens" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "lebendes" or "Lebens" show up more?
"Lebens" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,135 in our German list, against #37,647 for "lebendes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lebendes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lebens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,554,751 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lebendes" and "Lebens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lebendes vs Liebende". 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 #1,554,751 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