lebtevsLesbeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#3,756
“lebte” frequency rank
#39,511
“Lesbe” frequency rank
43267
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lebte Lesbe
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leben Frau, die homosexuelle Neigungen besitzt, lesbisch ist

Where the eye mixes lebte and Lesbe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
lebte
5 ch
Lesbe

Look-alike desk: lebte vs Lesbe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lebte is [ˈleːptə] while Lesbe is [ˈlɛsbə]. 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 43267, 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]. Lesbe is at rank #39,511, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛsbə].

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 43267, this pair ranks #1,423,467 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lebte vs Lesbe

Shared letters: bel. Private to "lebte": t. Private to "Lesbe": s.

"lebte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Lesbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lebteelbte · lbete · lebbte · lebet · lebtte · letbe · llebte
  • Lesbeelsbe · lebse · lesbbe · leseb · lessbe · llesbe · lsebe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lebte" and "Lesbe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lebte" is a verb and "Lesbe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lebte" or "Lesbe"?
"lebte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,756 in our German list, against #39,511 for "Lesbe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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 "Lesbe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,423,467 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lebte" and "Lesbe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leibes vs Lesbe". 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 #1,423,467 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