Which to use
“lehnten” and “lehren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,213
- “lehnten” frequency rank
- #6,323
- “lehren” frequency rank
- 29536
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lehnten | lehren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs lehnen | jemandem etwas (Lehrstoff, Wissen, Fertigkeiten, …) vermitteln, beibringen; jemanden in etwas unterrichten, unterweisen |
Where the eye mixes lehnten and lehren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lehnten runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against lehren's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: lehnten vs lehren
A purely visual mix-up. lehnten ([ˈleːntn̩]) and lehren ([ˈleːʁən]) 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 29536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lehnten is recorded at frequency rank #23,213, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːntn̩]. lehren is at rank #6,323, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈleːʁən].
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 29536, this pair ranks #1,765,005 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lehnten vs lehren
Shared letters: ehln. Private to "lehnten": t. Private to "lehren": r.
"lehnten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "lehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lehnten" and "lehren" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "lehnten" or "lehren" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lehnten" and "lehren" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lehnten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lehren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,765,005 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lehnten" and "lehren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lehnten 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 #1,765,005 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.