leeremvsleererTell them apart

Which to use

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

#44,043
“leerem” frequency rank
#20,320
“leerer” frequency rank
64363
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes leerem and leerer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. leerem and leerer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
leerem
6 ch
leerer

Look-alike desk: leerem vs leerer

A purely visual mix-up. leerem ([ˈleːʁəm]) 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 a single letter - m in “leerem” becomes r in “leerer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leerem is recorded at frequency rank #44,043, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːʁəm]. 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 64363, this pair ranks #644,231 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leerem vs leerer

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

"leerem" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "leerer" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leerem ← elerem · leeerm · leeremm · leerme · leerrem · lereem · lerem · lleerem
  • leerer ← elerer · leeerr · leererr · leerrer · lereer · lerer · lleerer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "leerem" and "leerer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleːʁəm] versus [ˈleːʁɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "leerem" vs "leerer" - which ranks higher?
"leerer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,320 in our German list, against #44,043 for "leerem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "leerem" 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 #644,231 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leerem" and "leerer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leerem vs leeres". 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 #644,231 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