LegendevsLiebendeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,287
“Legende” frequency rank
#25,650
“Liebende” frequency rank
29937
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Legende Liebende
Definition Erzählung über Begebenheiten, Leben und Tod von Personen, in erhöhender Weise – ähnlich der Sage oder dem Mythos weibliche Person, die jemanden liebt, also eine starke emotionale Bindung zu jemandem hat

Where the eye mixes Legende and Liebende

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Legende runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against Liebende's 8 (CVVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Legende
8 ch
Liebende

Why the eye confuses Legende with Liebende

A purely visual mix-up. Legende ([leˈɡɛndə]) and Liebende ([ˈliːbn̩də]) 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 29937, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Legende is recorded at frequency rank #4,287, classified as anoun, pronounced [leˈɡɛndə]. Liebende is at rank #25,650, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈliːbn̩də].

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 29937, this pair ranks #1,757,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Legende vs Liebende

Shared letters: deln. Private to "Legende": g. Private to "Liebende": bi.

"Legende" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "Liebende" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Legende ← elgende · leegnde · legedne · legendde · legened · legennde · leggende · legnede
  • Liebende ← ilebende · leibende · libeende · liebbende · liebedne · liebendde · liebened · liebennde

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Legende" for "Liebende" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([leˈɡɛndə] versus [ˈliːbn̩də]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Legende" or "Liebende"?
"Legende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,287 in our German list, against #25,650 for "Liebende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Legende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Liebende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,757,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Legende" and "Liebende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Liebende vs liegender". 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 #1,757,464 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