LeesvslegstWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Lees is a noun, legst is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Lees” is a noun and “legst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,048
“Lees” frequency rank
#17,645
“legst” frequency rank
66693
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lees legst
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Lee 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs legen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Lees and legst apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Lees
5 ch
legst

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Lees is [leːs] while legst is [leːkst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lees is recorded at frequency rank #49,048, classified as anoun, pronounced [leːs]. legst is at rank #17,645, tagged as averb, pronounced [leːkst].

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 66693, this pair ranks #564,670 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lees vs legst

Shared letters: els. Private to "Lees": -. Private to "legst": gt.

"Lees" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "legst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Leeseles · leess · llees
  • legstelgst · leggst · legsst · legstt · legts · lesgt · lgest · llegst

Frequency comparison

Lees#49,048
legst#17,645

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lees" and "legst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lees" is a noun and "legst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Lees" or "legst"?
"legst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,645 in our German list, against #49,048 for "Lees". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Lees vs legst

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Lees”; for a verb, it's “legst”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Lees” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list