Which to use
“legen” and “lenken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,262
- “legen” frequency rank
- #8,098
- “lenken” frequency rank
- 9360
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | legen | lenken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas in horizontale Lage bringen oder in horizontaler Lage in eine Position bringen | an einen bestimmten Ort, an ein Ziel führen |
Where the eye mixes legen and lenken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. legen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against lenken's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: legen vs lenken
A purely visual mix-up. legen ([ˈleːɡn̩]) and lenken ([ˈlɛŋkn̩]) 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 9360, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
legen is recorded at frequency rank #1,262, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːɡn̩]. lenken is at rank #8,098, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛŋkn̩].
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 9360, this pair ranks #1,980,320 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of legen vs lenken
Shared letters: eln. Private to "legen": g. Private to "lenken": k.
"legen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lenken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "legen" and "lenken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "legen" or "lenken"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "legen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lenken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,980,320 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "legen" and "lenken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lenken vs lenzen". 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 #1,980,320 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.