Which to use
“lege” and “lire” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,322
- “lege” frequency rank
- #38,882
- “lire” frequency rank
- 45204
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lege | lire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs legen | Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte wahrnehmen, verarbeiten und verstehen |
Where the eye mixes lege and lire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lege and lire follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses lege with lire
A purely visual mix-up. lege ([ˈleːɡə]) and lire ([liʁ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45204, 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]. lire is at rank #38,882, tagged as averb, pronounced [liʁ].
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 45204, this pair ranks #1,360,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lege vs lire
Shared letters: el. Private to "lege": g. Private to "lire": ir.
"lege" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lege" for "lire" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lege" vs "lire" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,360,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lege" and "lire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs lire". 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 #1,360,950 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.