Which to use
“lehn” is a verb and “lew” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,238
- “lehn” frequency rank
- #34,242
- “lew” frequency rank
- 68480
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lehn | lew |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lehnen | Löwe (Panthera leo) |
Where the eye mixes lehn and lew
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lehn runs 4 letters (CVCC) against lew's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lehn and lew
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lehn is [leːn] while lew is [lɛf]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68480, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lehn is recorded at frequency rank #34,238, classified as averb, pronounced [leːn]. lew is at rank #34,242, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɛf].
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 68480, this pair ranks #506,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lehn vs lew
Shared letters: el. Private to "lehn": hn. Private to "lew": w.
"lehn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lew" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lehn ← elhn · lehhn · lehnn · lenh · lhen · llehn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lehn" and "lew" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "lehn" or "lew" 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 "lehn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lew" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #506,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lehn" and "lew" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs lew". 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 #506,377 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.