Which to use
“lebte” and “liebte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,756
- “lebte” frequency rank
- #9,765
- “liebte” frequency rank
- 13521
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lebte | liebte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leben | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lieben |
Where the eye mixes lebte and liebte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lebte vs liebte
A purely visual mix-up. lebte ([ˈleːptə]) and liebte ([ˈliːptə]) 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 13521, 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]. liebte is at rank #9,765, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈliːptə].
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 13521, this pair ranks #1,957,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lebte vs liebte
Shared letters: belt. Private to "lebte": -. Private to "liebte": i.
"lebte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "liebte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lebte" and "liebte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "lebte" or "liebte" show up more?
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 "liebte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,957,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lebte" and "liebte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "liebte vs liefe". 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 #1,957,463 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.