Which to use
“leerer” is an adjective and “lehren” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,320
- “leerer” frequency rank
- #6,323
- “lehren” frequency rank
- 26643
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leerer | lehren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs leer | jemandem etwas (Lehrstoff, Wissen, Fertigkeiten, …) vermitteln, beibringen; jemanden in etwas unterrichten, unterweisen |
Where the eye mixes leerer and lehren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. leerer (CVVCVC) and lehren (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between leerer and lehren
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leerer is [ˈleːʁɐ] while lehren is [ˈleːʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leerer is recorded at frequency rank #20,320, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːʁɐ]. lehren is at rank #6,323, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːʁən].
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 26643, this pair ranks #1,814,808 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leerer vs lehren
Shared letters: elr. Private to "leerer": -. Private to "lehren": hn.
"leerer" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "lehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leerer" and "lehren" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "leerer" or "lehren"?
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 "leerer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lehren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,814,808 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leerer" and "lehren" 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 #1,814,808 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.