leere vs leerem, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#4,286
“leere” frequency rank: #44,043
“leerem” frequency rank: 48329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	leere	leerem
Definition	Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs leer	Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs leer

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leere and leerem apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

leere

6 ch

leerem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. leere ([ˈleːʁə]) and leerem ([ˈleːʁəm]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “leere” sits inside “leerem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leere is recorded at frequency rank #4,286, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːʁə]. leerem is at rank #44,043, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːʁəm].

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 48329, this pair ranks #1,252,546 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leere vs leerem

Shared letters: elr. Private to "leere": -. Private to "leerem": m.

"leere" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "leerem" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

leere ← elere · leeer · leerre · leree · lleere
leerem ← elerem · leeerm · leeremm · leerme · leerrem · lereem · lerem · lleerem

Frequency comparison

leere#4,286

leerem#44,043

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leere" and "leerem" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([ˈleːʁə] versus [ˈleːʁəm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "leere" or "leerem"?

"leere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,286 in our German list, against #44,043 for "leerem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering leere vs leerem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leere” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable