leerevsLeserTell them apart

Quick tell: leere is a adjective, Leser is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leere” is an adjective and “Leser” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,286
“leere” frequency rank
#2,347
“Leser” frequency rank
6633
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leere Leser
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs leer jemand, der liest

Where the eye mixes leere and Leser

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

5 ch
leere
5 ch
Leser

Why the eye confuses leere with Leser

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leere is [ˈleːʁə] while Leser is [ˈleːzɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6633, 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]. Leser is at rank #2,347, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːzɐ].

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 6633, this pair ranks #1,990,976 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leere vs Leser

Shared letters: elr. Private to "leere": -. Private to "Leser": s.

"leere" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Leser" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leereelere · leeer · leerre · leree · lleere
  • Leserelser · leesr · leserr · lesre · lesser · lleser · lseer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "leere" and "Leser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leere" is an adjective and "Leser" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leere" or "Leser"?
"Leser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,347 in our German list, against #4,286 for "leere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "leere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,990,976 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leere" and "Leser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leere vs Lees". 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 #1,990,976 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