LehmvsLeuConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#19,633
“Lehm” frequency rank
#42,653
“Leu” frequency rank
62286
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lehm Leu
Definition quarzhaltiger, kalkfreier Ton, der reich an Eisenverbindungen ist; gutes Ausgangsmaterial für Keramik und Ziegel Löwe

Where the eye mixes Lehm and Leu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Lehm runs 4 letters (CVCC) against Leu's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Lehm
3 ch
Leu

Visual trap between Lehm and Leu

A purely visual mix-up. Lehm ([leːm]) and Leu ([lɔɪ̯]) 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 62286, 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]. Leu is at rank #42,653, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɔɪ̯].

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 62286, this pair ranks #718,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lehm vs Leu

Shared letters: el. Private to "Lehm": hm. Private to "Leu": u.

"Lehm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Leu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lehm ← elhm · lehhm · lehmm · lemh · lhem · llehm

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lehm" and "Leu" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([leːm] versus [lɔɪ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Lehm" or "Leu"?
"Lehm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,633 in our German list, against #42,653 for "Leu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lehm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #718,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lehm" and "Leu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs Leu". 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 #718,516 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