Which to use
“leer” and “leerer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,116
- “leer” frequency rank
- #20,320
- “leerer” frequency rank
- 22436
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leer | leerer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (fast) ohne (physischen) Inhalt | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs leer |
Where the eye mixes leer and leerer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: leer vs leerer
A purely visual mix-up. leer ([leːɐ̯]) and leerer ([ˈleːʁɐ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “leer” sits inside “leerer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leer is recorded at frequency rank #2,116, classified as anadj, pronounced [leːɐ̯]. leerer is at rank #20,320, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːʁɐ].
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 22436, this pair ranks #1,874,202 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leer vs leerer
Shared letters: elr. Private to "leer": -. Private to "leerer": -.
"leer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "leerer" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leer" and "leerer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "leer" vs "leerer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "leer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leerer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,874,202 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leer" and "leerer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leerer vs leger". 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 #1,874,202 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.