Which to use
“lehnen” and “leiten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,403
- “lehnen” frequency rank
- #5,101
- “leiten” frequency rank
- 14504
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lehnen | leiten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | den Körper schräg stellen | die Führung ausüben |
Where the eye mixes lehnen and leiten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lehnen vs leiten
A purely visual mix-up. lehnen ([ˈleːnən]) and leiten ([ˈlaɪ̯tn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lehnen is recorded at frequency rank #9,403, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːnən]. leiten is at rank #5,101, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯tn̩].
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 14504, this pair ranks #1,950,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lehnen vs leiten
Shared letters: eln. Private to "lehnen": h. Private to "leiten": it.
"lehnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "leiten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lehnen" and "leiten" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lehnen" vs "leiten" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lehnen" and "leiten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lehnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,950,745 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lehnen" and "leiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lehnen 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 #1,950,745 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.