ledigvsLudwigConfusable pair

Quick tell: ledig is a adjective, Ludwig is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ledig” is an adjective and “Ludwig” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,393
“ledig” frequency rank
#2,308
“Ludwig” frequency rank
29701
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ledig Ludwig
Definition noch nie verheiratet männlicher Vorname

Where the eye mixes ledig and Ludwig

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

5 ch
ledig
6 ch
Ludwig

Look-alike desk: ledig vs Ludwig

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ledig is [ˈleːdɪç] while Ludwig is [ˈluːtvɪç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ledig is recorded at frequency rank #27,393, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːdɪç]. Ludwig is at rank #2,308, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈluːtvɪç].

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 29701, this pair ranks #1,761,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ledig vs Ludwig

Shared letters: dgil. Private to "ledig": e. Private to "Ludwig": uw.

"ledig" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Ludwig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ledigeldig · ldeig · leddig · ledgi · ledigg · leidg · lledig
  • Ludwiglduwig · lludwig · luddwig · ludiwg · ludwgi · ludwigg · ludwwig · luwdig

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ledig" for "Ludwig" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ledig" is an adjective and "Ludwig" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "ledig" or "Ludwig" show up more?
"Ludwig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,308 in our German list, against #27,393 for "ledig". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ledig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ludwig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,761,862 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ledig" and "Ludwig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ledig vs leih". 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 #1,761,862 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