Which to use
“lebte” and “liebten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,756
- “lebte” frequency rank
- #33,701
- “liebten” frequency rank
- 37457
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lebte | liebten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leben | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lieben |
Where the eye mixes lebte and liebten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lebte runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against liebten's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses lebte with liebten
A purely visual mix-up. lebte ([ˈleːptə]) and liebten ([ˈliːptn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37457, 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]. liebten is at rank #33,701, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈliːptn̩].
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 37457, this pair ranks #1,589,738 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lebte vs liebten
Shared letters: belt. Private to "lebte": -. Private to "liebten": in.
"lebte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "liebten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lebte" and "liebten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lebte" vs "liebten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lebte" and "liebten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lebte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "liebten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,589,738 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lebte" and "liebten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "letten vs liebten". 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 #1,589,738 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.