leeresvsLehrerTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#24,026
“leeres” frequency rank
#1,038
“Lehrer” frequency rank
25064
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leeres Lehrer
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs leer Person, die Wissen (beziehungsweise Fertigkeiten, Verhaltensweisen, Werte und so weiter) an Lernende (Schüler, Studenten) vermittelt, häufig im Rahmen des Unterrichts an einer Bildungseinrichtung

Where the eye mixes leeres and Lehrer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. leeres (CVVCVC) and Lehrer (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
leeres
6 ch
Lehrer

Why the eye confuses leeres with Lehrer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leeres is [ˈleːʁəs] while Lehrer is [ˈleːʁɐ]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25064, 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]. Lehrer is at rank #1,038, tagged as anoun, 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 25064, this pair ranks #1,838,676 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leeres vs Lehrer

Shared letters: elr. Private to "leeres": s. Private to "Lehrer": h.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leeres ← eleres · leeers · leeress · leerres · leerse · lerees · leres · lleeres
  • Lehrer ← elhrer · leherr · lehhrer · lehrerr · lehrre · lehrrer · lerher · lherer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leeres" and "Lehrer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leeres" is an adjective and "Lehrer" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "leeres" vs "Lehrer" - which ranks higher?
"Lehrer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,038 in our German list, against #24,026 for "leeres". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "leeres" and "Lehrer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "leeres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lehrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,838,676 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leeres" and "Lehrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leeres 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 #1,838,676 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