Which to use
“legten” and “lesen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,746
- “legten” frequency rank
- #506
- “lesen” frequency rank
- 9252
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | legten | lesen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs legen | Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte (mithilfe der Augen) wahrnehmen sowie (im Gehirn) verarbeiten und verstehen, sowie dies gegebenenfalls laut vorlesen |
Where the eye mixes legten and lesen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses legten with lesen
A purely visual mix-up. legten ([ˈleːktn̩]) and lesen ([ˈleːzn̩]) 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 9252, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
legten is recorded at frequency rank #8,746, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːktn̩]. lesen is at rank #506, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːzn̩].
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 9252, this pair ranks #1,980,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of legten vs lesen
Shared letters: eln. Private to "legten": gt. Private to "lesen": s.
"legten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lesen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "legten" and "lesen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "legten" or "lesen"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "legten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,980,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "legten" and "lesen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "legten vs lenzen". 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 #1,980,780 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.