Which to use
“leger” is an adjective and “legten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,108
- “leger” frequency rank
- #8,746
- “legten” frequency rank
- 54854
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leger | legten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | leicht, bequem (meist in Zusammenhang mit Kleidung) | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs legen |
Where the eye mixes leger and legten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. leger runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against legten's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between leger and legten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leger is [leˈʒɛːɐ̯] while legten is [ˈleːktn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54854, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leger is recorded at frequency rank #46,108, classified as anadj, pronounced [leˈʒɛːɐ̯]. legten is at rank #8,746, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːktn̩].
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 54854, this pair ranks #1,002,417 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leger vs legten
Shared letters: egl. Private to "leger": r. Private to "legten": nt.
"leger" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "legten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leger" and "legten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "leger" or "legten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "leger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "legten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,002,417 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leger" and "legten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs leger". 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 #1,002,417 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.