Which to use
“lehnten” is a verb and “leinen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,213
- “lehnten” frequency rank
- #14,622
- “leinen” frequency rank
- 37835
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lehnten | leinen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs lehnen | aus Leinen gemacht |
Where the eye mixes lehnten and leinen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. lehnten runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against leinen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses lehnten with leinen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lehnten is [ˈleːntn̩] while leinen is [ˈlaɪ̯nən]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37835, 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]. leinen is at rank #14,622, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯nən].
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 37835, this pair ranks #1,579,853 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lehnten vs leinen
Shared letters: eln. Private to "lehnten": ht. Private to "leinen": i.
"lehnten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "leinen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lehnten" and "leinen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lehnten" vs "leinen" - 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 "lehnten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leinen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,579,853 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lehnten" and "leinen" 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 #1,579,853 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.