legervsLigenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#46,108
“leger” frequency rank
#15,937
“Ligen” frequency rank
62045
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leger Ligen
Definition leicht, bequem (meist in Zusammenhang mit Kleidung) Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Liga

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
leger
5 ch
Ligen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leger is [leˈʒɛːɐ̯] while Ligen is [ˈliːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62045, 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]. Ligen is at rank #15,937, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈliːɡn̩].

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 62045, this pair ranks #727,219 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leger vs Ligen

Shared letters: egl. Private to "leger": r. Private to "Ligen": in.

"leger" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Ligen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • legerelger · leegr · legerr · legger · legre · lgeer · lleger
  • Ligenilgen · lgien · liegn · ligenn · liggen · ligne · lligen

Frequency comparison

leger#46,108
Ligen#15,937

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leger" and "Ligen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leger" is an adjective and "Ligen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leger" or "Ligen"?
"Ligen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,937 in our German list, against #46,108 for "leger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leger vs Ligen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “leger”; for a noun, it's “Ligen”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list