LeesvsLeserWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#49,048
“Lees” frequency rank
#2,347
“Leser” frequency rank
51395
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lees Leser
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Lee jemand, der liest

Where the eye mixes Lees and Leser

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Lees
5 ch
Leser

Why the eye confuses Lees with Leser

A purely visual mix-up. Lees ([leːs]) and Leser ([ˈleːzɐ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51395, 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]. Leser is at rank #2,347, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːzɐ].

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 51395, this pair ranks #1,137,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lees vs Leser

Shared letters: els. Private to "Lees": -. Private to "Leser": r.

"Lees" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Leser" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Leeseles · leess · llees
  • Leserelser · leesr · leserr · lesre · lesser · lleser · lseer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Lees" and "Leser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([leːs] versus [ˈleːzɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Lees" or "Leser"?
"Leser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,347 in our German list, against #49,048 for "Lees". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lees" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,137,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lees" and "Leser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs Loses". 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 #1,137,146 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