LehmvslehrtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Lehm is a noun, lehrt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Lehm” is a noun and “lehrt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,633
“Lehm” frequency rank
#10,894
“lehrt” frequency rank
30527
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lehm lehrt
Definition quarzhaltiger, kalkfreier Ton, der reich an Eisenverbindungen ist; gutes Ausgangsmaterial für Keramik und Ziegel 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lehren

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
Lehm
5 ch
lehrt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Lehm is [leːm] while lehrt is [leːɐ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 30527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lehm is recorded at frequency rank #19,633, classified as anoun, pronounced [leːm]. lehrt is at rank #10,894, tagged as averb, pronounced [leːɐ̯t].

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 30527, this pair ranks #1,746,089 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lehm vs lehrt

Shared letters: ehl. Private to "Lehm": m. Private to "lehrt": rt.

"Lehm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lehrt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lehmelhm · lehhm · lehmm · lemh · lhem · llehm
  • lehrtelhrt · lehhrt · lehrrt · lehrtt · lehtr · lerht · lhert · llehrt

Frequency comparison

Lehm#19,633
lehrt#10,894

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lehm" and "lehrt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lehm" is a noun and "lehrt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Lehm" or "lehrt"?
"lehrt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,894 in our German list, against #19,633 for "Lehm". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Lehm vs lehrt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Lehm”; for a verb, it's “lehrt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Lehm” 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