lebtevslegtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,756
“lebte” frequency rank
#1,604
“legt” frequency rank
5360
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lebte legt
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leben 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs legen

Where the eye mixes lebte and legt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
lebte
4 ch
legt

Visual trap between lebte and legt

A purely visual mix-up. lebte ([ˈleːptə]) and legt ([leːkt]) 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 5360, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lebte is recorded at frequency rank #3,756, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːptə]. legt is at rank #1,604, tagged as averb, pronounced [leːkt].

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 5360, this pair ranks #1,995,003 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lebte vs legt

Shared letters: elt. Private to "lebte": b. Private to "legt": g.

"lebte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "legt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lebteelbte · lbete · lebbte · lebet · lebtte · letbe · llebte
  • legtelgt · leggt · legtt · letg · lget · llegt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lebte" and "legt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleːptə] versus [leːkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lebte" vs "legt" - which ranks higher?
"legt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,604 in our German list, against #3,756 for "lebte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lebte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "legt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,995,003 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lebte" and "legt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs legt". 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 #1,995,003 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