Which to use
“lehnte” and “lernte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,084
- “lehnte” frequency rank
- #5,866
- “lernte” frequency rank
- 12950
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lehnte | lernte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lehnen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs lernen |
Where the eye mixes lehnte and lernte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lehnte and lernte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses lehnte with lernte
A purely visual mix-up. lehnte ([ˈleːntə]) and lernte ([ˈlɛʁntə]) 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 a single letter - h in “lehnte” becomes r in “lernte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lehnte is recorded at frequency rank #7,084, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːntə]. lernte is at rank #5,866, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈlɛʁntə].
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 12950, this pair ranks #1,961,035 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lehnte vs lernte
Shared letters: elnt. Private to "lehnte": h. Private to "lernte": r.
"lehnte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "lernte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lehnte" and "lernte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lehnte" vs "lernte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lehnte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lernte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,961,035 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lehnte" and "lernte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lerche vs lernte". 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 #1,961,035 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.