legevsLigenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,322
“lege” frequency rank
#15,937
“Ligen” frequency rank
22259
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lege Ligen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs legen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Liga

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
lege
5 ch
Ligen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lege is [ˈleːɡə] while Ligen is [ˈliːɡn̩]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22259, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lege is recorded at frequency rank #6,322, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːɡə]. Ligen is at rank #15,937, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈliːɡn̩].

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 22259, this pair ranks #1,876,359 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lege vs Ligen

Shared letters: egl. Private to "lege": -. Private to "Ligen": in.

"lege" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Ligen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • legeelge · leeg · legge · lgee · llege
  • Ligenilgen · lgien · liegn · ligenn · liggen · ligne · lligen

Frequency comparison

lege#6,322
Ligen#15,937

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lege" and "Ligen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lege" is a verb and "Ligen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lege" or "Ligen"?
"lege" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,322 in our German list, against #15,937 for "Ligen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lege vs Ligen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “lege”; for a noun, it's “Ligen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lege” 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