legervsleseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leger is a adjective, lese is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leger” is an adjective and “lese” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,108
“leger” frequency rank
#2,907
“lese” frequency rank
49015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leger lese
Definition leicht, bequem (meist in Zusammenhang mit Kleidung) 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lesen

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
leger
4 ch
lese

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leger is [leˈʒɛːɐ̯] while lese is [ˈleːzə]. 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 49015, 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]. lese is at rank #2,907, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːzə].

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 49015, this pair ranks #1,227,203 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leger vs lese

Shared letters: el. Private to "leger": gr. Private to "lese": s.

"leger" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lese" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • legerelger · leegr · legerr · legger · legre · lgeer · lleger
  • leseelse · lesse · llese · lsee

Frequency comparison

leger#46,108
lese#2,907

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leger" and "lese" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leger" is an adjective and "lese" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leger" or "lese"?
"lese" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,907 in our German list, against #46,108 for "leger". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering leger vs lese

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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