Which to use
“lebte” is a verb and “Leine” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,756
- “lebte” frequency rank
- #9,763
- “Leine” frequency rank
- 13519
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lebte | Leine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leben | längere feste Schnur, an der etwas festgemacht wird oder mit der etwas festgemacht wird; dünnes Seil |
Where the eye mixes lebte and Leine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lebte (CVCCV) and Leine (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between lebte and Leine
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lebte is [ˈleːptə] while Leine is [ˈlaɪ̯nə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13519, 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]. Leine is at rank #9,763, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯nə].
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 13519, this pair ranks #1,957,473 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lebte vs Leine
Shared letters: el. Private to "lebte": bt. Private to "Leine": in.
"lebte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Leine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lebte" for "Leine" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lebte" vs "Leine" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lebte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Leine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,957,473 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lebte" and "Leine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leibes vs Leine". 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 #1,957,473 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.