Which to use
“leer” is an adjective and “lehrt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,116
- “leer” frequency rank
- #10,894
- “lehrt” frequency rank
- 13010
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leer | lehrt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (fast) ohne (physischen) Inhalt | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lehren |
Where the eye mixes leer and lehrt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. leer runs 4 letters (CVVC) against lehrt's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses leer with lehrt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leer is [leːɐ̯] while lehrt is [leːɐ̯t]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13010, 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]. lehrt is at rank #10,894, tagged as averb, pronounced [leːɐ̯t].
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 13010, this pair ranks #1,960,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leer vs lehrt
Shared letters: elr. Private to "leer": -. Private to "lehrt": ht.
"leer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lehrt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leer" and "lehrt" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "leer" or "lehrt" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "leer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lehrt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,960,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leer" and "lehrt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lähmt vs lehrt". 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 #1,960,675 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.