lebtvsLeuWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#1,136
“lebt” frequency rank
#42,653
“Leu” frequency rank
43789
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lebt Leu
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leben Löwe

Where the eye mixes lebt and Leu

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

4 ch
lebt
3 ch
Leu

Visual trap between lebt and Leu

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lebt is [leːpt] while Leu is [lɔɪ̯]. 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 43789, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lebt is recorded at frequency rank #1,136, classified as averb, pronounced [leːpt]. Leu is at rank #42,653, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɔɪ̯].

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 43789, this pair ranks #1,406,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lebt vs Leu

Shared letters: el. Private to "lebt": bt. Private to "Leu": u.

"lebt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Leu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lebtelbt · lbet · lebbt · lebtt · letb · llebt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lebt" for "Leu" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lebt" is a verb and "Leu" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "lebt" vs "Leu" - which ranks higher?
"lebt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,136 in our German list, against #42,653 for "Leu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "lebt" and "Leu" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lebt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,406,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lebt" and "Leu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs Leu". 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 #1,406,944 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