LehnevslenkWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,620
“Lehne” frequency rank
#27,396
“lenk” frequency rank
42016
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lehne lenk
Definition Sitzmöbelteil, an den man sich anlehnen oder auf den man sich stützen kann 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lenken

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Lehne
4 ch
lenk

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Lehne is [ˈleːnə] while lenk is [lɛŋk]. 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 42016, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lehne is recorded at frequency rank #14,620, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːnə]. lenk is at rank #27,396, tagged as averb, pronounced [lɛŋk].

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 42016, this pair ranks #1,462,146 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lehne vs lenk

Shared letters: eln. Private to "Lehne": h. Private to "lenk": k.

"Lehne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lenk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lehneelhne · lehhne · lenhe · lhene · llehne
  • lenkelnk · lekn · lenkk · lennk · llenk · lnek

Frequency comparison

Lehne#14,620
lenk#27,396

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lehne" and "lenk" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lehne" is a noun and "lenk" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Lehne" or "lenk"?
"Lehne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,620 in our German list, against #27,396 for "lenk". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Lehne vs lenk

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Lehne”; for a verb, it's “lenk”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Lehne” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list