lebtenvsleidenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,863
“lebten” frequency rank
#1,776
“leiden” frequency rank
7639
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lebten leiden
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs leben starke psychische oder physische Schmerzen verspüren

Where the eye mixes lebten and leiden

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

6 ch
lebten
6 ch
leiden

Visual trap between lebten and leiden

A purely visual mix-up. lebten ([ˈleːptn̩]) and leiden ([ˈlaɪ̯dn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7639, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lebten is recorded at frequency rank #5,863, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːptn̩]. leiden is at rank #1,776, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯dn̩].

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 7639, this pair ranks #1,987,447 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lebten vs leiden

Shared letters: eln. Private to "lebten": bt. Private to "leiden": di.

"lebten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "leiden" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lebtenelbten · lbeten · lebbten · lebetn · lebtenn · lebtne · lebtten · letben
  • leideneliden · ledien · leidden · leidenn · leidne · leiedn · lieden · lleiden

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lebten" and "leiden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleːptn̩] versus [ˈlaɪ̯dn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lebten" vs "leiden" - which ranks higher?
"leiden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,776 in our German list, against #5,863 for "lebten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "lebten" and "leiden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lebten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leiden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,987,447 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lebten" and "leiden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lebten vs lenzen". 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 #1,987,447 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