Which to use
“legten” is a verb and “letter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,746
- “legten” frequency rank
- #29,681
- “letter” frequency rank
- 38427
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | legten | letter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs legen | Brief |
Where the eye mixes legten and letter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. legten and letter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: legten vs letter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: legten is [ˈleːktn̩] while letter is [letə(r)]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38427, 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]. letter is at rank #29,681, tagged as anoun, pronounced [letə(r)].
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 38427, this pair ranks #1,564,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of legten vs letter
Shared letters: elt. Private to "legten": gn. Private to "letter": r.
"legten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "letter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "legten" for "letter" ever safe?
Which is more common, "legten" or "letter"?
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 "letter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,564,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "legten" and "letter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "letten vs letter". 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 #1,564,268 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.