Which to use
“lehnen” and “lesen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,403
- “lehnen” frequency rank
- #506
- “lesen” frequency rank
- 9909
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lehnen | lesen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | den Körper schräg stellen | Schriftzeichen, Worte und Texte (mithilfe der Augen) wahrnehmen sowie (im Gehirn) verarbeiten und verstehen, sowie dies gegebenenfalls laut vorlesen |
Where the eye mixes lehnen and lesen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lehnen vs lesen
A purely visual mix-up. lehnen ([ˈleːnən]) and lesen ([ˈleːzn̩]) 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 9909, 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]. lesen is at rank #506, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːzn̩].
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 9909, this pair ranks #1,977,704 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lehnen vs lesen
Shared letters: eln. Private to "lehnen": h. Private to "lesen": s.
"lehnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lesen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lehnen" and "lesen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "lehnen" or "lesen" 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 "lehnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,977,704 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lehnen" and "lesen" 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 #1,977,704 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.