legtevsliebteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,977
“legte” frequency rank
#9,765
“liebte” frequency rank
11742
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature legte liebte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs legen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lieben

Where the eye mixes legte and liebte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. legte runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against liebte's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
legte
6 ch
liebte

Look-alike desk: legte vs liebte

A purely visual mix-up. legte ([ˈleːktə]) and liebte ([ˈliːptə]) 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 11742, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

legte is recorded at frequency rank #1,977, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːktə]. liebte is at rank #9,765, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈliːptə].

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 11742, this pair ranks #1,968,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of legte vs liebte

Shared letters: elt. Private to "legte": g. Private to "liebte": bi.

"legte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "liebte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • legteelgte · leget · leggte · legtte · letge · lgete · llegte
  • liebteilebte · leibte · libete · liebbte · liebet · liebtte · lietbe · lliebte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "legte" and "liebte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleːktə] versus [ˈliːptə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "legte" or "liebte"?
"legte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,977 in our German list, against #9,765 for "liebte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "legte" and "liebte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "legte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "liebte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,968,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "legte" and "liebte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "liebte vs liefe". 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 #1,968,172 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