Which to use
“Lehen” is a noun and “lehnten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,321
- “Lehen” frequency rank
- #23,213
- “lehnten” frequency rank
- 43534
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Lehen | lehnten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas Geliehenes (auch feminin) | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs lehnen |
Where the eye mixes Lehen and lehnten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Lehen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against lehnten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Lehen with lehnten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Lehen is [ˈleːən] while lehnten is [ˈleːntn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Lehen is recorded at frequency rank #20,321, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːən]. lehnten is at rank #23,213, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːntn̩].
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 43534, this pair ranks #1,415,055 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Lehen vs lehnten
Shared letters: ehln. Private to "Lehen": -. Private to "lehnten": t.
"Lehen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lehnten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Lehen" and "lehnten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Lehen" or "lehnten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Lehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lehnten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,415,055 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Lehen" and "lehnten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lehnten 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 #1,415,055 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.