leeresvslehrenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leeres is a adjective, lehren is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leeres” is an adjective and “lehren” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,026
“leeres” frequency rank
#6,323
“lehren” frequency rank
30349
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leeres lehren
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs leer jemandem etwas (Lehrstoff, Wissen, Fertigkeiten, …) vermitteln, beibringen; jemanden in etwas unterrichten, unterweisen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leeres and lehren apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
leeres
6 ch
lehren

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leeres is [ˈleːʁəs] 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 30349, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leeres is recorded at frequency rank #24,026, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈleːʁəs]. 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 30349, this pair ranks #1,749,633 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leeres vs lehren

Shared letters: elr. Private to "leeres": s. Private to "lehren": hn.

"leeres" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "lehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leereseleres · leeers · leeress · leerres · leerse · lerees · leres · lleeres
  • lehrenelhren · lehern · lehhren · lehrenn · lehrne · lehrren · lerhen · lheren

Frequency comparison

leeres#24,026
lehren#6,323

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leeres" and "lehren" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leeres" is an adjective and "lehren" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leeres" or "lehren"?
"lehren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,323 in our German list, against #24,026 for "leeres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leeres vs lehren

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “leeres”; for a verb, it's “lehren”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leeres” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list